Chapters Author's Note
I hope you all have enjoyed part 1.
If you are reading this for the first time, the first REAL chapter begins after this.
Have fun.
Chapter 1 - Not on my doorstep!
“Vinyl!” There was a pause
“Vinyl!” Another pause
No silence of course, just the constant throbbing sound of the DJ pony hard at work, Octavia grimaced and stared out the doorway at the gathering crowd of complaining neighbours.
“I assure you” She said, trying to be as delicate and convincing as possible, possibly because she needed more convincing than anyone. Unfortunately her assurances went uncompleted as that brutish pegasus pony with the mane of mismatched colors stuck her face right up against octavia's.
“you've assured us three times already and that was just today.”
“And I Assure you that it won't happen again. Now please, take a step back madam, your wings are blowing the leaves onto my doorstep.”
It was the worst excuse imaginable but it was also the only one she could think of. She was frantic, she hadn't brushed her hair for the evening rehearsal of the ponyville orchestra, there was a crowd of angry ponies on her now leafy doorstep and Vinyl had yet to be quiet; so she did the only thing she could do, she slammed the door, trotted briskly up the stairs, (draining the glass of wine she had poured herself moments before the knocking on her door), bursting into Vinyl's room and flicking the switch on her computer, turning it off.
That was her first mistake
“WHAT THE HELL!”
Vinyl spun around on the swivel chair she favoured, leaping from it at shoving her body right against glaring her in the eyes, her glasses off, muzzle to muzzle.
“Vinyl, this really is too close.”
“TOO CLOSE? TOO CLOSE? WHO GIVES A DAMN ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL SPACE! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I WAS WORKING ON THAT?”
“On what? That mish mash abomination you call music?”
Vinyl did not move, nor did she speak.
“In fact, your noise was so annoying it woke all the neighbours and they came to complain... several times.”
Vinyl turned and sat back at the computer, turning it back on. “like I care about them Octavia.”
Octavia felt flustered, but she had to put a stop to this.
“your acting like a child Vinyl, you need to at least use headphones so you don't disturb anyone.”
“I can't, my headphones are broken. I was telling you about it last night. You really weren't listening?”
“I..ah”
“I'm not surprised, all you rich snooty types are the same.”
Octavia turned very angry, very quickly.
“don't you dare”
“Or what? You'll whine at me? You seem good at that, maybe you can make a job out of that, it would be easier on my ears for one.”
An insult to her was bad, comparing her to every other rich pony in the world was worse, insulting her music. Vinyl Scratch had crossed one final line.
“Get out of this house you animal!”
Vinyl spun on the chair again.
“no”
Octavia moved in closer.
“No?”
“I pay half of the rent, you pay the other half. This is my house as much as yours.”
Octavia never lowered herself to a physical confrontation, such things were beneath her, but she did often fantasize about wringing the unicorn's neck, often... very often.
“Where are you going?”
Vinyl turned angrily, “Out! I'm getting away from you for a few hours!” And with that, the door slammed behind her.
Octavia fell back into her bed, she curled up into a tiny ball and sobbed quietly to herself. She was tired, the orchestra was simply becoming too much. She was in there all day everyday, only coming home to practice on her cello, barely sleeping, always working. She had really hoped that she and Vinyl could be friends, if only so that they could live under one roof and pay the rent together, just so she could have somewhere to stay, but if they stopped living together and she couldn't find another roommate, she would loose everything.
“Sleep Octavia.. just... just sleep”
She tried to sleep but her thoughts kept returning to her, thoughts of how lonely she was, thoughts of how scared she was, thoughts of how tired she was, finally she gave in and closed her eyes, blinking them slowly, one, two, th... Silence.
Octavia had left her wine bottle out on a table, Vinyl took the liberty of draining it.
“damn lightweight gets hammered after a few glasses of this? Glad I never take her out drinking. Getting her back would suuuuuck. Hanging out with her would suuuuuuuck”
She grinned to herself, the trek out of Ponyville to the nearest club wasn't a short one, and the trek back was made longer due to intoxication and general drunkenness. Although Vinyl did have to admit that it wasn't always her house she made it back to.
It was night time now, and Vinyl wasn't gonna stick around this house when there were people and alcohol outside. She put on her purple glasses, looking at herself in the mirror, glasses, check, house keys, check, mane, awesome.
“Time to hit up the clubs and dazzle my fans.”
Vinyl grinned and opened the door, she stepped forwards and almost stepped on the bundle, she stopped. She stared. She sniffed at it.
“ew”
It squirmed, it cried and finally it stuck it's head out of the bundle. It... She, was a baby. A baby unicorn, it's coat was white and it's mane a shocking shade of red. There was a baby A baby on her doorstep, even worse, there was a baby on her OCD roommates doorstep.
“Man, Octavia's gonna be pissed.”
Author's Note
I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it.
Chapter 2 - What I do for Pancakes
Octavia had to admit, Vinyl was good with the baby.
The white mare had come quietly into her room and summoned her downstairs, warning her to be quiet, she seemed anxious and Octavia was tired so there was no argument. When they reached the bottom of the stares Octavia's violet eyes were greeted with the sight of the young foal cuddled in a ball on the sofa. It let out a yawn and rolled over onto it's back, kicking it's legs in the air, lost in some dream.
“Vinyl...what is... what is..”
Vinyl put a hoof to her muzzle, “shh, jeez, you'd think you'd never been around a kid before.”
“On my doorstep? A foal?”
“Our doorstep Octavia.” Vinyl shook her head, not wanting to risk an argument and wake the kid. She found what she was looking for, an old, battered baby bottle. It was clean if a little used, and a mix of different shades of blue. She filled it with some milk and brought it over, sitting down by the foal and setting the bottle on the table nearby. Octavia was beginning to panic, she was pacing quickly from side to side and taking in deep breaths.
“There can't be a baby, no no no, why would someone abandon the baby? Who does it belong to. Maybe we can find it a home. Vinyl, Vinyl are you even listening?”
The DJ wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention, she was cuddling the now awake foal, she pawed at it's belly with her hoof, the bottle lifted magically off the table and drifted towards the foal's eager mouth. It sucked greedily on the teat of the bottle, not wasting a drop.
“Your a hungry little dude aren't you.” Vinyl grinned approvingly.
“Vinyl I don't think that's a.. dude.”
Ugh, Vinyl's slang words felt so wrong in her mouth, whether it was how unbecoming it was to say them or whether it was due to her lack of sleep. She shook her head and looked at the pony and foal.
“We need a plan Vinyl, try find it's parents”
“Who left it on our doorstep? Yeah, I'm suuuure they'll appreciate us returning the foal they abandoned.” Vinyl's words were saturated with venom and Octavia took a few sudden steps back.
“Ok then, um what about an orphanage?”
“Not a chance, they're over crowded as it is, not to mention terrible places. So many kids, so few people to take care of them? That's no way for a kid to grow up.”
“Vinyl you can't just make that assumption...”
“It's not an assumption.”
Octavia wanted to press Vinyl for details but she didn't dare, her roommate was already in a foul mood from their fight earlier, any further questions could be seen as provocation, she would need to approach this gently if she wished to reach a compromise.
“Very well Vinyl, we will keep the child until we can find a nice loving home, ok?”
Vinyl gave her the slightest of nods before returning her attention to the foal, it had finished with the milk and Vinyl removed the bottle and smiled, using her hoof to wipe away the drops of milk around the foals mouth.
“Don't worry lil dude, I'll look after you.”
Octavia trotted up to her bed, falling into it again and rubbing her eyes, trying to make sense of the events of the night. She had planned to discuss Vinyl moving out in the morning try to find a new roommate once the uncouth slob was out of her house, but this foal complicated things. Vinyl seemed attached to it, and her behavior suggested that simply taking the foal to an orphanage would not be the key. She was looking at a busy day tomorrow, parent hunting, foal sitting probably and not to mention Orchestra rehearsal... She could see herself getting into trouble for not showing up tonight.
She was going to need her sleep, so she rolled over, pulling the blankets around her and quickly passed on to the dreamlike state the foal had been in only minutes before.
Vinyl remained awake with the child all night long.
The morning came and for once Octavia wasn't awoken by the DJ's infernal noise, in fact, there was perfect silence in the air of Ponyville. She looked out the window, greeted by the sunlight and the sound of birds and the distant chatter of ponies preparing for their days. She pulled her dressing gown on and stumbled slowly downstairs with all the grace of... well, all the grace of Vinyl. But eventually the tired pony made her way into the kitchen where she saw another sight that amazed her. Vinyl was not only making breakfast, but doing the dishes. Usually they would rotate, with one of them cooking and another cleaning and even then there were complaints from both parties. But now Octavia was greeted by the sight of the white coated mare scrubbing down a pan and pancakes on the table. She hadn't been aware that vinyl could make pancakes, in fact Vinyl's cooking had been downright mediocre.
“Stop staring Octavia and eat something.” Vinyl said as she turned around, drying her hooves and taking a seat at the table. Next to her was the foal, looking unusually happy for a child in the morning, it;s colouration was really quite shocking, white coat with bright red mane, and it's eyes were blue, startlingly so.
“So” Vinyl spoke between shoveling food into her mouth, pausing only to speak and help feed the foal. “How'd ja sleep?”
Ocatavia's jaw dropped. “Since when have you been interested in how I slept?”
“I was thinking, if we're gonna be roommates, we should at least try to get along, besides, we don't want to upset the foal.”
“Vinyl”
“Oh and that reminds me”
“Vinyl”
“It's getting weird saying 'the foal' we should probably name her.”
“Vinyl!”
The DJ stopped talking and gave her a stare.
“What?”
Octavia took in a gulp, breathed and.. she looked into her roommates deep red eyes, behind them was actually a flicker of intelligence, as much as Octavia had hated to admit it, and kindness, she hand seen that first hand, and although Octavia didn't like Vinyl's music, she could appreciate that other people did. And in a way, that was what being a musician was all about. She looked at the foal, it's adorable eyes, it's beautiful colours. She thought back, at how Vinyl looked at the foal and cared for it, it was bringing out a better Vinyl Scratch, maybe a better Octavia. She gulped again and said;
“I was thinking, maybe we, I mean you, I mean... The foal can stay.”
Chapter 3 - Who's mother?
The days passed quickly in the musician's household, when the two mares weren't rehearsing their respective performances, they were buying food, taking a short nap, foal proofing the house and of course, foal sitting.
"I can handle it"
"Are you sure?"
"for Celestia's sake I can watch the foal on my own for a few hours whilst your at the club."
Vinyl had finally managed to book a gig at the club outside of Ponyville, they were paying well and they needed the money with the extra mouth to feed, and that mouth ate, it ate a lot.
"Can you pick up something to eat for breakfast in the morning Vinyl?"
"I thought you went out for food today"
Octavia blushed. "I may have forgotten"
Vinyl sighed audibly and Octavia rounded on her. "Don't give me that look, I was in rehearsals all day, I barely got home a few minutes ago."
"Don't raise your voice in front of the foal!"
"Said the pot to the kettle" Vinyl snorted.
The two ponies were now standing muzzle to muzzle, not for the first time since moving in together, although it had happened far less since the child's arrival. Octavia had an excellent retort, one she had been saving for the occasion of humiliating the other pony and Vinyl prepared to insult Octavi's ears; however their confrontation was cut short by the sound of crying. The foal was sitting on the floor beside them and wailing powerfully, putting it's complaints at the forefrontd of their minds, Octavia turned towards the child and Vinyl slammed the door behind her.
Whump.
The beat slowly began spreading up, and as it did the bodies of the dancing ponies below her, spead up to. Vinyl Scratch was in her element, and as she worked the bodies below into further frenzy, she felt omnipotent; every pony below her reacted to the sounds she had created. She stared up at the roof, the lights reflecting off her violet shades and white toothed grin. When she was up there, her problems were gone, her roommate didn't exist and she was living the perfect life. Finally she was coming to the end of her set, the sound winding down.
"G'night every pony!" She shouted into the mic rather drunkenly, earlier in her set she had demanded tributes in the form of alcohol which now resulted in her staggering down from the stage, the manager, a young stallion with a greenish coat and matching mane met her at the bottom.
"Well done Vinyl" A sack of coins hovered in the air in front of her which she deposited into one of her many bags.
She blinked once or twice then grinned, "I can handle it, I take it I'm gonna be doing regular gigs here?"
"You kidding me?" The manager replied, "You got the best reception of any pony we've had here. You make us money."
"Sweeeet. Right, I'd better get going. It's a long trot down home."
She turned, began trotting up the stairs for her things and in her drunken state tripped over the first set of stairs. The manager was standing above her when she looked up.
"May I help?"
"Where are you Vinyl?"
Octavia cursed politely under her breath as the foal hollered loudly for it's Blue Haired mother. Octavia paused for a few seconds and a thought crossed her mind. Was Vinyl the mother of this child now? Was it Octavia, were they both the mothers of this child? But, what did that make them in respect to each other? She and Vinyl certainly were not together in any romantic sense, Octavia was far too well brought up for anything so vulgar and out of the ordinary but she had noticed that Vinyl was more than a little loose with her body.
Although she really did hope that with the foal having arrived the White Coated Mare would become more responsible.
She shook her head as she tried to get the foal to quieten down, her mane was entirely unkempt and she was in need of a very long sleep. But until the child quietened down and shut it's eyes that was a dream long gone by. Blinking once or twice as a sudden realization dawned on her, she thought to herself that maybe it didn't truly matter what her appearance was at the moment, because all her life consisted of was a baby that wasn't her's and Orchestral Rehearsals and before the baby she just filled her time with Cello practice. Her life had been dull and boring then and it was only a little less dull and boring now. Maybe tomorrow she would go out, get Vinyl to watch the foal and have some lunch, maybe make a new friend.
You could always get to know Vinyl some more. The voice in her head suggested.
"Well, that's it then. I am going to have a 'me' day tomorrow. I hope Vinyl doesn't mind babysitting tomorrow, especially if she is doing it tonight after I go to sleep." She said this turning her head to the unopened door and wondered just how long it would remain un opened.
The sun was poking it's head through the curtains, it's harsh light waking Vinyl and greeting her with a mild hangover. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her head and looking down at the unfamiliar sheets. She turned and look down next to her and groaned in dismay as she saw the sleeping figure of the club manager lying next to her.
"Well, Buck."
Chapter 5 - Whatever the cost
Vinyl was doing her best to quietly collect her things, her bags, computers CD's and other numerous possessions that had gone with her to the club. So far she had managed it, yes she had managed to quietly haul the bags and boxes outside and call for a cab pony, facing Hooving when she realized she could have done that the previous night. And they were about to set off when,
"Ma'am I must say you have beautiful eyes." The cab pony announced.
"My eyes?"
"Yes ma'am."
Those eyes, those beautiful red eyes, Magenta, her mom used to call them, widened. She had left her shades back in that guys house.
"Stop the cab now!"
The cab halted and she leapt from it, colliding with the ground and speeding off into the house and bursting into his room. He was there, already awake and looking at her, her shades in hoof.
"Ah, Miss Scratch. How nice of you to return, please take a seat so we can discuss our continued business together."
If Octavia had a horn to remove hair from her scalp she would have done so by now. The sun was at it's full height, the clock saying 11, the foal was still screeching its head off and Vinyl was no where to be seen. Octavia found that she was actually worried, how could she not be? Vinyl should have been home the previous night, almost 12 hours ago. Octavia didn't feel confident enough to watch the foal outside the confines of the house and there was no one to foal sit whilst she looked for Vinyl. So she resorted to pacing.
"What do I do? No no no, I'm sure Vinyl is perfectly fine, she's a sturdy mare with plenty of um, night time mileage under her belt" she kept pacing unaware of the terrible innuendo she just made, or its relevance to what Vinyl had done mere hours before. "I will give her until supper time, if the is no word I'll try ask one of the more dependable neighbors to foal sit whilst I search for her. Yes, that plan is perfect." With that she stopped pacing and sat down, a little more relaxed. And of course at that moment, Vinyl opened the door, looking awful, and dragged herself inside.
"Vinyl!" Octavia and the foal leapt up and rushed towards her, the foal tripping over its hooves in doing so. Vinyl merely looked up and nodded at them weakly, murmuring a curt "hey" in response to their worried faces. Octavia looked at her from her hooves to her flanks to her shades, her fur was messy and disheveled and some of the hair in her mane looked like it had been pulled at, suddenly Octavia guessed at what happened, she flew off the handle.
"I'VE BEEN WAITING ELEVEN HOURS FOR YOU TO HET HERE, I'VE BEEN WORRIED AND CALMING DOWN A CRYING BABY FOR ELEVEN HOURS AND YOU WERE OUT, HEY, WHERE IN ALMIGHTY CELESTIA ARE YOU GOING?"
Vinyl walked right passed her, dumping the sack of coins on the table.
"I got a regular gig at the nightclub. No more money problems," She said this and bent down, giving the foal a little kisses on the cheek before leaving the room. She trotted up to her own bedroom, closing the door behind her, as she staggered slowly towards her night stand, tear drops fell from below her shades. She looked into the mirror, magically removing the purple shades and staring at her eyes in the mirror, her beautiful red pupils, normally surrounded by clean white fur, were now sore and dented, with black and bluish marks all over them, all in the shape of large hooves. "No more money problems," She said, blinking through the constant pain and tears. "Whatever the cost."
Author's Note
Wow! Things have really just got quite serious haven't they?
There won't be another upload for a few days, I am on holiday but I had to get this chapter up. Enjoy my other story in the meantime, it's about the early lives of Luna and Celestia.
On the third day since the foal arrived, a letter arrived on the doorstep, informing them that Vinyl would finally receive a gig at the club outside of Ponyville. As Octavia read out this invitation vinyl took off her shades slowly and grinned.
“Looks like our money troubles are over Kiddo” She said and gently punched the foal's shoulder. The foal giggled and split some of it's oats.
“Not for ever, it's just one gig Vinyl.” Octavia responded, always being the rational one.
“Not if I pull out all the stops, give them my best performance ever. I can get a regular gig there and we can kiss our problems good bye.” Vinyl grinned, then her expression dropped.
Octavia allowed herself a wry smile. “I had two sisters and a brother, this should be no problem. Have fun Vinyl.”
“Awww yeah!” Vinyl leapt up, pounding the air with her hooves and launched herself at Octavia, hugging her violently, Octavia returned the hug without the slightest hesitation; the foal, having nothing better to do and feeling left out, leapt on to the table, scampered across it and jumped into the other two mares arms. They remained there for what seemed an age, warm in each other's coats. Until Vinyl and Octavia realized what was happening and separated, lowering the Foal to the ground quickly and turning away from each other, blushing furiously. In all this time, looking after the foal and working together to raise a child, the two musicians had forgotten to hate each other.
Author's Note
Wotcher!
Enjoy this chapters because this story isn't gonna be updated for a lil bit.
I am going to be putting a lot of work into these stories this week because after that I'm going back to school. Work Work Work. Exams and such.
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Chapter 6 - And it's not even 8:00 AM yet...
For the next two weeks, the flow of money into their household was steady, plentiful. Octavia was free to hire a foalsitter to watch the child so that she could return to orchestra rehearsals. And during the nights that they had together, Octavia and Vinyl discussed a name for this young foal. Discussed was the polite term for their arguments; the money had increased but Vinyl had become irritable, tired and her once shinning white coat had lost its lustre. Octavia put it down to exhaustion, for all her faults Vinyl was an excessive worker. The air between the two mares was still tense though, the knowledge that the only real thing that had kept them together was this child on their doorstep, Octavia wondered if people would start talking. Surely by now the news had spread that she and the raucous DJ had taken in a young filly. What would they say?
It was early, the cold wind bit into her fur no matter how tightly Octavia wrapped herself in her clothes. So she resolved herself to finding the nearest Cafe and finding some solace within its walls. It was with that thought in mind that she turned to the Ponyville Corner Cafe. She had never really been there before, so when she opened the doors, letting the cold wind in with her, the regular patrons gave her a look of mild surprise. However they were more concerned with the cold that was hurling itself through the opens doors. The scene was far less friendly than Octavia had anticipated, she wondered if she should greet the other patrons; offer up a friendly greetings. But someone beat her to it, except it wasn't a greeting, or friendly.
“Wood in hole!” Came one upset voice. Octavia turned her head to face its source, confusion touching her eyes.
“Pardon me?” She was really doing her best to be civil, but the cold air had muffled her senses.
“Close the door!” Came the annoyed response, Octavia felt her cheeks grow hot as she blushed furiously and turned to shut the door, only to find that another pony had shut it for her. This pony had a light green coat with slight tinges of white in her mane and a lyre as a cutie mark.
Odd, thought Octavia as curiosity seeped into her thoughts. This was a musical pony it seemed, but she had not seen her at any of orchestral rehearsals, and she had certainly not seen this pony at any of the musicians meetings held in the auditorium. Suddenly Octavia felt as thought eyes were staring into her, she shook herself from her thoughts and realised that the mare was looking at her, waiting for a response most likely. Octavia's blush seemed to grow more intense.
“I'm sorry, I just. Thank you.” Oh Luna I sound like a fool. Octavia's thoughts were yelling at her at this point. She was an intelligent mare who excelled at social events and here she was, unable to stammer through a single sentence. The mare didn't seem to mind at all however, she offered Octavia a smile.
“I'm Lyra.” There was a song in the mare's voice, something wonderful, something that warmed Octavia's very soul.
“Octavia.” Octavia's voice took on its usual air of formality as she put out her hoof to shake. Instead the other mare lifted her own hoof and tapped it against Octavia's and then turned away, walking towards a table. Octavia had very little idea of what was going on, she turned her head from side to side, wondering which direction to sit, where there any availible seats, it appeared-
“Well are you going to sit there until Nightmare Night or are you going to sit here?” Lyra's voice drifted over the chatter and talk of the patrons who had returned to their meals and seemed to draw Octavia towards it. She turned and led a slow walk towards the table where Lyra had made herself comfortable. She was sitting on a chair, but she was sitting strangely, in the most undignified manner. With her backside planted right on the chair, her back hooves going down towards the floor and her front hooves on the table. Octavia took this, rebellious and unorthodox way of sitting to mind. She wondered if she should say anything about it, but quickly decided against it. Instead she sat herself down opposite Lyra, sitting like a self respecting mare should.
“Now that seems much better than you standing in the middle of the doorway. It is cold out there.”
“I must admit I'm still in bed at this hour, so I'm not sued to the morning chills.”
Lyra laughed.
“You're new to Ponyville right?”
Octavia tilted her head slightly.
“That I am.”
Lyra gave her a nod and waved for the waiter.
“Around this time of the year it's always cold. You had better get used to it before the snow comes in.”
Octavia's ears dropped.
“Oh greatest of joys” The sarcasm was etched into every slice of the sentence.
“No need to get antsy, there are ways to deal with it. Two hot chocolates” She swapped from talking to Octavia to giving instructions to the waiter so quickly Octavia barely had time to register the change, and suddenly Lyra was walking again, so friendly, so bold. It was charming.
“Warm food and the right clothing works fine. See, the clothes you're wearing are far too thin. You need wool jackets here if you plan to make it through the winter.”
Octavia looked down at her clothing, as warm and as expensive as they were, it just wasn't enough here.
“Where do you suggest I buy these?” Octavia used her most... democratic voice.
Lyra caught on and burst out laughing with ferocious force.
“Just ask around, Carousel Boutique is your best bet, but you could always borrow some of mine.”
“Oh I couldn't, we're not in the poorhouse if I may say. We can afford it.” Octavia didn't want to sound like a snob, but she hated hand outs. It seemed, sad, pathetic. Lyra's eyes showed the slightest tinge of disappointment, mixed with understanding.
“Oh really?” Her voice became playful. “So what do you do for a living?” Something told Octavia Lyra already knew.
“I'm in the Ponyville Symphony. First Cello part.” Octavia said with a measure of pride. Lyra's eyes may have rolled slightly.
“Ah, that. Is that all?” Now Octavia knew, Lyra knew exactly what was going on with Octavia.
“Yes.” She kept her tone civil. “My roommate is a DJ in the nightclub just outside of Ponyville.”
Lyra's eyes tweaked with excitement, she had all the ammo she needed.
“Oh you mean Vinyl? I go down to the club sometimes, not really my style of music but I've gotta appreciate her skills” Lyra was off like a cannon, her mouth, gums, tongue and lips working up a storm as she spoke, the floodgates were open. “She's looking quite tired if you see her around town though, maybe it's all the extra hours she does there. Like this one time she told us she was done with the set, she got off and suddenly she came back on, wearing those purple shades of hers and told us she was staying on a few more hours. I expect it's because of the foal. It must be hard for two parents to have to look after it and work at the same time”
Ah. There is was.
“Well” Octavia began. “We aren't really the child's parents, we adopted her.”
Lyra laughed. “Well of course, two mares can't make a baby. No matter how much they may want to.”
Octavia was stammering now. “Um, yes well, you see. Vinyl and I are just friends.”
Lyra stopped, then her lips tweaked into a sly smile. “Oh of course you are.” She leaned in closer. “No one will judge you for it, in Ponyville we're very accepting.”
Octavia couldn't help but lean in closer to Lyra as well. “No, no no. We are literally just room mates. We moved in together to pay the rent and someone left a foal on our doorstep. In fact Vinyl and I don't get along at all, we just want to look after the foal.” Octavia, for some reason, felt like she could trust Lyra. She didn't know why, but she liked Lyra.
“If you couldn't look after the child why don't you send it to the orphanage?” Lyra asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Octavia shook her head.
“Vinyl wouldn't have it. She put her hoof down. Either we keep the foal together or she would look after it herself. This option seemed best for the foal.”
Lyra stood up, their hot chocolates arriving, she drained hers in one gulp, Octavia flinched, how that must have hurt the other mare's throat going down. But Lyra didn't seem concerned.
“Well Octavia I have to go, but we should really do this again. And, I think that Vinyl and that foal are really lucky to have you with them.” She touched Octavia's shoulder with her hoof, smiled, turned and left. Octavia closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
Back at their home, Vinyl woke from a nightmare. A scream left her lips as she shot from her bed, falling off it and whacking her head on the floor. She sat up and rubbed her head and looked into the mirror. She was a horror movie incarnate. Her electric mane had lost it's shape, her coat was covered in bruises and sores. There were bite marks all over her neck, three of her teeth her missing and both her eyes had gone various shades of black red and blue. She didn't want to remember the last night, or the night before that, or the night before that. Every single night was the same and it was getting worse. All because of that sleezy git. And sleezy wasn't an exaggeration. Sleezy was his actual name. Vinyl wondered if his parents had known what a monster he would be.
“I wonder if my parents had know what a failure I would be?” Vinyl wondered. Then she stifled a slight tear as it dripped from her blood soaked right eye. Her parents didn't think about her. Because they didn't give a damn about her or her future. In Vinyl's whole life there was one mare who paid Vinyl the slightest bit of attention. It wasn't anyone at the orphanage where she grew up, it wasn't any of the so called friends she had. No, it was the old lady who lived opposite them. That grandmare was always so kind to them all. Vinyl turned towards the cot where the foal was sleeping. She knew what she wanted to name the foal, but she was scared. Octavia had shot down all her name suggestions so far. Vinyl didn't want this name, the name of such a great mare to be insulted. Vinyl walked slowly over to the cot and looked down at the sleeping filly.
“I would name you Evaline. If I could.” Vinyl told the filly softly.
“That's a wonderful name Vinyl.” Octavia's voice came from the door behind them, Vinyl shot up, surprised. Octavia shouldn't be back already, Vinyl was still a mess, she couldn't find out. She turned towards her bed, her shades were there, but she tripped over the cot, waking up the newly named Evaline, who proceeded to scream and cry at the top of her voice. Vinyl went down, whacking her head on the floor for the second time this morning; and Octavia saw everything.
“Mother of Cadence Vinyl... What happened to you?”
Vinyl looked up at Octavia with tears in her eyes as the cries saturated and consumed the room.
Author's Note
Wotcher!
I am so glad to be back and writing again. Especially with regards to Evaline. Oddly enough I expected this to do the worst of all my stories. But I am glad to see that it's picking up. There is a change as you can see, with each chapter now sitting at 2000 words. The same will apply for the rest of my stories. So, please enjoy.
Octavia's morning had been so pleasant. Her breakfast at the cafe had put her in a wonderful mood, and her new friendship with Lyra was just the cherry on the top. She entered her home with a broad smile splitting her face. She trotted joyously up the stairs, deciding to relieve Vinyl and let her have some much needed rest. She had even brought tea back in a flask for the DJ.
As she approached Vinyl's room she heard her roommate speak. Ah, she was up. And Octavia also heard a name, spoken so softly and, there was a tone of respect and admiration in Vinyl's voice. A layer of emotion she didn't think the DJ was capable of; but there it was. And the name itself, it was great. It was a beautiful, mature and elegant name. Evaline. Evaline. Octavia fell in love with the name and she let it roll around in her ears and her mind over and over. She stepped into Vinyl's room for the first time in a long time to congratulate her on the choice of the name.
And then Vinyl turned around.
Octavia looked at Vinyl, Vinyl looked at Octavia.
Vinyl had stopped crying at this point and as she lay curled up on the bed her voice had softened to a whimper. Evaline watched quietly as Octavia removed the flask from her bag and poured out the tea into a cup. She lent her head down in front of Vinyl's and spoke gently, as if she were talking to the foal.
“Come now Vinyl, sit up and drink something.”
Vinyl did not move, nor did she blink away the tears that were crawling down her filthy white fur. Octavia saw bite marks, and chunks missing from that dirty coat. She hadn't liked the DJ for most of their time together but, seeing her in this state brought a touch of sympathy to her heart.
“Come on Vinyl. We need to talk about this.”
Octavia could see no point in avoiding the subject. She had to know what happened to Vinyl. No pony should suffer like this.
“Were you mugged? Vinyl?”
Vinyl had no said a word, she had not moved, her breath was jagged and raspy. The DJ had been holding this in for a long time and now that it was discovered the effort of keeping it down was consuming her. Octavia laid a hoof over one of Vinyl's, she could feel her entire body vibrating. She was a wreck, Octavia suddenly felt a flash of guilt at not noticing the state of her roommate before.
How could you not notice. She's your friend!
She's not really my friend.
Yes she is. You've been friends for two weeks now, stop being a child and admit it.
But...
ADMIT IT!
Octavia sucked in a breath and she spoke, keeping her voice steady.
“Vinyl, as your friend-”
It worked.
“I had to do it.”
Vinyl's voice cut her off mid sentence, it was so quiet Octavia nearly had to ask her to repeat herself.
“What was it Vinyl?”
“We needed money. To, to look after the foal.”
“Evaline”
Octavia corrected Vinyl with the name she had chosen. It wasn't much, but the name, Octavia's acceptance of it, gave her some semblance of strength. Vinyl sat up on the bed, she remained silent for some time and Octavia wondered if she should say something. Vinyl leaned down and slowly took a sip from the cup, sat up, and continued.
“Sleezy made me a deal.”
“Sleezy? The owner of the club?”
Vinyl nodded.
“He gave me a regular spot but... do you remember that first night I performed. I came back in the morning.”
“I remember yelling at you for it.”
Vinyl smiled sadly at the memory.
“Yeh. That. Sleezy... He made me....”
Octavia's heart stopped.
“And you let him?”
Vinyl looked at her friend, her deep magenta eyes highlighted by the massive scars and bruising that surrounded them.
“Only the first time.”
Octavia rose to her hooves. She had been sitting on the bed with Vinyl before this but now she was off, her hooves hit the floor so heard Evaline jumped slightly and looked at Octavia perplexed. Octavia barely noticed, all her emotion, thought and soul was on Vinyl, Vinyl Scratch, her friend, who had been raped.
“We can't let him get away with this.”
Vinyl had done well at holding it together until this point, but now she just placed her head in her hooves and cried into them, trying her best to speak out her objections.
“We, we need the money Octavia. Evaline needs the money.”
Octavia placed her one hoof below Vinyl's jaw and raised up her head to look her in the eyes.
“Hey. We'll find another way. Ok? There are other clubs a little further away you could perform at, or you could even work with me.”
Octavia's eyes widened at her own suggestion. She had heard of other ponies in Equestria combining instrumental music with computerized music. But she had never thought anything of it, she preferred to keep to her own style and keep it pure, just as she had been taught.
But things had stopped being normal for her when she moved in with a DJ and adopted a child.
“You and me Vinyl. The best musicians in Ponyville, we'll remake music, we will set the standards for everyone else, not struggle to live by other people's rules.”
Octavia no longer had control of her own words, she just spoke, and spoke and spoke. The clouds moved in the sky, the sun shifted and Octavia spoke for all she was worth until her voice became a death rattle. She told Vinyl of their life, what they could be, the places they would visit and the ponies they would meet. “We will perform for Celestia herself Vinyl, a royal performance!” She spoke of the honours they would receive “We will be made knighted, they'll make us Dames. Dame Octavia. Oh I love the sound of that, don't you?” And as she spoke of the life that Evaline would live, happy and fulfilled, she saw a flicker in Vinyl's eye, and a tear rolling from it. Octavia stopped suddenly, she raised her hoof and placed it under Vinyl's jaw. The tear trickled onto it and Octavia leant in closer, wiping it away. She looked into her friend's eyes, looking for sadness, wanting to know what she had said to upset her. But she saw no sorrow. As Octavia lent in she saw, the twinkle of joy in the eyes of Vinyl Scratch's eyes. Octavia smiled an awkward but hopeful smile and it grew to a delighted smile as Vinyl returned it. Their noses bumped together, but they didn't flinch. They remained still, just living in the solitary moment of their friendship and however long Octavia's speech had gone on, this moment lasted even longer. It was just them, together and happy.
Any possibility of romance was lost when Evaline, bored with the quiet, climbed out of her cot and jumped in between them, squealing with joy at such a great joke. Vinyl and Octavia both lurched back, terror striking their faces, and replacing quickly with a hesitant but happy laugh. Octavia smiled her elegant smile at Vinyl.
“She's got your eyes.”
“No she doesn't, they're a different colour.”
“No.” Octavia blushed. “I meant, that look you get. This little, mischievous glint in your eyes when you're happy.” The blush intensified and it made it's way onto Vinyl's face as well. The DJ grinned and gathered up Octavia and Evaline into a strong hug.
“Look at us together. We're a strange family.”
“But we're a happy one” Octavia finished for her.
And that's when Sleezy knocked on the door.
“Vinyl! Get your flanks down here right now before I come up there and drag it down.”
If there was anything smooth in his voice once upon a time it was gone now, replaced with a raw fury that sickened Octavia's stomach. How could Vinyl consent to THIS GUY, even if it was only once...
At the reminder of what this was all about, at what had happened, at what this pony had done. Octavia's rage returned. She turned her head to face Evaline and Vinyl.
“Stay here. I'm going to talk to him.”
She turned and left before Vinyl even had the chance to argue.
Down the stairs she went, her good mood from the beginning of the day gone, happy thoughts, tolerance, all gone. All because of this sick freak at their door. She trotted across the hallway and towards the door. She opened it.
Well, he had appearance going for him. He was tall, muscular and handsome. None of this was really important to Octavia but she had to try and figure out how Vinyl had become attracted to him. Now that she had some idea of this, she could get to them important matters.
“I'm sorry” She said in her most formal tone. “But Vinyl is not well and is not able to come to the door.” Then, with a sly smile. “Apparently some pony has been mistreating her. We've reported it to the authorities, once this situation has been dealt with I'm sure you can come speak to her about whatever business you have.” With that, Octavia shut the door in his face, turned and began her trek towards the stairs.
“Didn't your mommy ever tell you not to lie bitch.”
Octavia stiffened. This was not going as well as she had hoped. She turned, again, back to face him and scoffed.
“And didn't 'your' mother teach you not to use such foul language in the presence of a lady.”
The voice came back quickly.
“Oh you're no lady. I bet you've been around the block once or twice. Probably a real treat in the sack aint ja?”
Ugh. She was truly disliking this pony.
“Now, why don't you let me in this door and bring down Vinyl. She's late for her, pre show preparations. We wouldn't want any trouble now would we?”
Octavia was about ready to hurl at this point. But instead of speaking to him, she walked right up the stairs, refusing to look back at him.
Once she was at the top of the stairs she went straight to Vinyl's room. Her friend was sitting on the bed with a concerned look on her face as she cradled Evaline in her hooves, singing to her softly.
Octavia had never noticed this before but Vinyl's singing voice was a wonder. It was so far off from her DJ “I'm so cool” speaking voice she barely recognized her. But there it was, the soft and gently voice had a motherly quality to it. Octavia remembered when her mother used to sing to her... no wait, that was her nanny. Octavia couldn't help but feel a slight tug at her heartstrings as she watched this beautiful scene in front of her. Most ponies had been sung to by their mothers. But she, Octavia, had not. Octavia felt such a rush of emotion right then and there, she was finally a part of a family, one that cared, one that sang to a little fillie. She promised herself right then and there to be there for Evaline. Always.
CRASH.
The tenderness of their moment was interrupted by the sound of their front door being broken down. Sleezy was not giving up. By the sound of it he was storming through their house, stomping up the stairs in a rage. Vinyl gripped Evaline tighter, not wanting to let go of the child. Octavia stood between them and the door. Vinyl wouldn't have to sacrifice anything for Evaline, because Octavia would do it for them both. So when Sleezy stuck his brutish head through the doorway, Octavia shoved her hoof firmly in his muzzle. He bucked and fell back, a tooth falling out. Wow, she had never knocked out a tooth before. Octavia stared at her hoof, there was blood on it. She turned her head to look at Vinyl. There was still blood on her. This did more to fuel Octavia's anger, she turned back to face Sleezy as he came through the door again, but this time at a full gallop. At that speed, Octavia could not stop him as he slammed into her, shoving her to the floor. He reared up and brought both hooves crashing down onto her chest. She yelled out a plethora of curse words that she didn't even realize she knew and rolled around on the floor in agony. She had once cut into the skin above her hoof whilst practising her Cello. It had hurt for hours after that, but her mother had told her that the constant practice is what would make her great. The pain was a trophy. This time, she had no mother to tell her this was a trophy, no nanny to clean her up. She had the floor, the cold hard floor of her friend's room and the furious screams of Sleezy.
“YOU DON'T, FUCKING, TALK TO ME, LIKE THAT, YOU LITTLE, PIECE, OF SHIT WHORE!”
He hit her again and then straightened himself up. He looked from Octavia, her beautiful grey coat now as ruffled and bloodied as Vinyl's.
“Well now. Look at this, all the whore's hiding in one room together. We've got stuck up whore.”
He grinned at his joke and looked down at Octavia.
“Stupid whore”
He glared at Vinyl, and then he moved his eyes to the child in Vinyl's arms. Evaline was screaming her fears, tears streaming down her small innocent face as she tried desperately to escape the protection of Vinyl's grip and reach Octavia.
“And crying whore to be. I bet she's gonna end up just like you two when she grows up. Maybe... Maybe she won't have to grow up.”
Vinyl saw the evil glint in his eye, she saw what he was suggesting. And she was done.
“Evaline, go help Tavi.” She placed the child down and Evaline stumbled quickly to Octavia's side. Vinyl Scratch rose to her hooves and took a step towards Sleezy.
“You will never come into this house again.”
Sleezy smiled his evil smile. Poor bastard still thought he was in control.
“You will never talk to me or my friends ever again.”
Another step.
“You will never make my child cry ever again.”
She was muzzle to muzzle now, the air had tensed and the soft tenderness of the moment she had shared with Octavia and Evaline was fuelling her fury.
“And you will never, ever hurt any of us again.”
With that, Vinyl shoves him backwards, he lost his balance and before he could do anything he was hurling punches at him. Hoof after hoof after hoof. She didn't need to bow down to him any more, she didn't need to help him. And she had been in enough fights to know how this was going to end.
And it ended exactly how she planned. He took step after step backwards, out of the room and down... rapidly, down the stairs. He had slipped, rolling down the stairs and hitting his head, again and again and again. By the time he reached the bottom. He was unconscious.
It was dark, three hours had gone by and Octavia had given her statement to the guard pony. Now she was sitting in their living room with Vinyl, Evaline was asleep, but nearby. After the events, neither mother wanted the child far away.
She looked at her hoof.
“I've never punched somepony before.”
Vinyl smiled.
“Oh I have. You get used to it after a while. The trick is not to let them punch you back.”
Octavia returned the smiled, sadly. She and Vinyl had been patched up very well by the town Doctor who refused to give his actual name.
“I guess I have a long way to go.”
Vinyl shook her head after an awkward pause.
“Na, you did good today.”
“Well”
“What?”
Octavia allowed a laugh.
“I did well today.”
Vinyl's smile grew, and then it went flat.
“Did you really mean all that stuff you said earlier Octavia? About us working together?”
Octavia blushed, but she nodded. And Vinyl was smiling again.
“I would love to.”
“Well you can't do anything else now can you? I heard the Club outside Ponyville is closing, something about the owner getting his butt kicked by two little fillies.”
The two shared a laugh, despite the seriousness of the joke.
“Well” Vinyl said, “I'm sorry for ruining your day.”
“It had been such a good morning.” Octavia agreed.
“Oh really?” Vinyl asked “What made it so good?”
“I just made a friend, that's all.”
Vinyl's eyes widened and she smiled wickedly.
“A cute friend? Was he hot?”
“Ah no, actually it was a filly, Lyra, her name was.”
“Oh, I've seen her, she IS cute. Although I didn't think you were into that Tavi.”
Vinyl was joking of course, but Octavia cast her mind back to the conversation she had had with Lyra. The strange filly was rather attractive, aside from a wonderful tea friend.
“I'm not Vinyl. Not at all.”
“Oh sure you aren't Tavi. Sure you aren't”
The mischievous glint in Vinyl's eye had returned.
Author's Note
Hey guys! It's great to be back.
This chapter marks the end of Part 1. Part 2 will be updated as soon as I finish writing my finals. :D
Hint: It takes place a few years in the future and focuses on the relationship between Evaline and Octavia mainly.
So yeah, thank you too all those who have liked this story!
Author's Note
I will be updating Part 2 soon
Chapter 8 - Scratch or Melody
Over the years the pitter patter of tiny excited hooves across the wooden floors of the musician's apartment were replaced by the heavier hoof falls of the now fourteen year old Evaline. She had grown into herself over the years and the two musicians did a sterling job in her upbringing. At this point she looked more like Vinyl that Octavia. She had fashioned her red mane in a similar fashion and had soon donned similar glasses.
But she managed to retain her other mother's grace and elegance, preferring conversations about the complexities of life and history to parties and friends.
It wasn't that she was antisocial, not that at all. But... school and friends had been a problem for her since day one.
The class had ambled inside in their own time, the young ponies everywhere set up a bright sea of faces just waiting for her. All the children had their parents with them, their moms and dads proudly escorting their little learners. Some were more protective of their children, understandably so (according to Octavia at least) and others, like Vinyl, were more than ready to set their children upon each other and watch as friendships blossomed. Evaline quite happily made her way into the crowd of kids, keeping her parent's advice in her head. “Just be yourself” they had said “Friendly ponies are the most fun to hang around.” And so Evaline approached the closest pony, a small clot with a short mane and brown fur. “Hello” The conversation began. And that was the beginning of her troubles. Evaline got along so well with her new classmates it was unreal, she spoke vibrantly about living with musicians and about how her mother once beat up a guy in their own house. She had begun drawing a crowd and Vinyl and Octavia watched with amazed pride. Right up until the crowd demanded to meet the parents. Evaline led the foray of small bodies through the parents and in a straight line to her parents.
“Here! Meet my moms!” Evaline exclaimed loudly for all to hear. Some older ears pricked up and turned to face the two parents as the crowd of children watched, confused. One raised a hand.
“Which one is your mom?”
An awkward silence from the adults.
“both of them” replied Evaline cheerfully.
This only seemed to confuse the colt even more.
“But... where's your daddy?”
Evaline opened her mouth, then shut it. She turned and faced her parents,a s if she was noticing for the very first time, then she turned to look at everyone else's parents, then back at her's, then at the crowd. And then she looked back at her mothers.
“Where 'is' my daddy?” she asked.
Neither Evaline nor her parents forgot that day, nor the hurried half baked explaination that they gave. They tried telling the truth over and over again, but as the children got older, the nastier of the bunch began to spread rumours about them to their parents. And the seed was placed. Despite every attempt made by the three ponies to quell the rumours they did not die down.
That day they had taken Evaline home and tried to explain things to her.
She had so many questions and her moms were keeping tight lipped on the subject. Why wouldn't they answer, all through the walk back home they remained silent, staying a several feet away from each other and letting their daughter walk between them. And as they did Evaline began to notice the others. The other ponies who were glancing, every so subtly at the family as they passed by. She had never noticed before, and if she had, she never would have guessed the reason why. Even now she wondered about it.
Once they had finally arrived home her moms sat her down and began to talk.
It was awkward at first, with neither parent knowing where to start, or who should start, so Evaline started for them.
“Where's my daddy?” She asked again, her high childlike voice punctuated with a desperation that neither parent could ignore. They both spilled out at once.”
“We don't know” Said Octavia.
“You're adopted” Said Vinyl, not knowing what else to say.
The small filly looked confused as she asked another question.
“What's adopted?”
Both parents were stunted. Their faces flabbergasted, if either of them had ever expected this conversation to happen, they obviously had not expected it to happen for quite some time. Octavia began, delicately.
“Adopted... is when a mommy and... and a daddy have a little baby. But, they can't look after the baby and so they let someone else look after it instead.”
“So you aren't my mommies?” Evaline asked, innocently, although the growing hurt in her eyes was becoming more and more apparent. Octavia came over to her and embraced her tightly.
“We will always be your mommies. Just because we took you in doesn't mean we love you any less.”
“It means we love you more than anyone else, because we choose to have you all to ourselves” Vinyl added, having found her voice again. She felt so unsure about this, and she felt as though the words coming out of her mouth, true as they were, were being spoken by another.
“So... When a mommy and daddy don't love their baby...” Evaline began but both her mothers cut her off.
“No no no. Of course they loved you” Or at least that's what Evaline thought she heard through the mixed voices of her parents. They always spoke at the same time when they were nervous.
“Then why didn't they keep me?”
“Well” Octavia began.
“Because they couldn't give you everything you needed to be the best pony you could be.” Finished Vinyl. It was a mantra she had been told many times before in the orphanage.
“So... after the Mommy and Daddy give away the baby... two mommies then look after her?”
Her parents shared a look.
“Not always. No.” Began Octavia once gain.
“You see” Vinyl tried to help her friend. “Your mom and I share the house. And someone put you outside our house and... We thought it would be best for us to keep you and...”
“Here we are.” Octavia finished. It was the honest truth. She and Vinyl had grown into strong friends over the last few years and, despite the rumours that had begun spreading, they continued on with their lives.
And Evaline had carried on with hers. Her classmates had seen her some somepony strange and she had started to withdrawn from social events and birthday parties but she was never unhappy. And as she grew she began to make friends, keeping her social circle small with friends who didn't think of her as an oddity at all. No one seemed bothered that she was adopted and they grew to accept and love her mothers, who had become so good with kids. They had become the go to foalsitters for parents out of town. Octavia's responsible and caring nature made the parents feel safe with leaving their kids behind and Vinyl's enthusiastic, not to mention childlike, view on life kept them all entertained.
Finally, when it was time to send Evaline to high school, Evaline had settled into a happy routine that nothing could ruin, until the first day when she filed into class, viewing her classmates and their teacher asked them to stand and state their full names.
One by one the ponies rose to speak, and one by one they did, but when it got to-
“Evaline” She said and her teacher looked at her with eyes rolling; probably thinking oh great. First smart arse of the year
“Your full name please.” Said her teacher.
Evaline took in a breath.
“That is my full name.”
The teacher narrowed her eyes sceptically.
“I need your surname as well young lady. You know... your parent's last name?”
The sarcasm was so heavily emphasised in the end of her sentence it managed to incite a few snickers.
Evaline let out her breath and spoke.
“My mom's have different last names. I don't know which one is mine.” She said this honestly enough. Their family had come to that conversation every now and then and they had always said it was Evaline's choice but... Both of her parents seemed uncomfortable at that point, as if... They were afraid at not being chosen. So Evalin just stopped trying to choose.
The teacher raised an eyebrow.
“Your moms?”
Evaline nodded.
“Yes, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody.”
“How interesting” Her teacher said with a sly, not so friendly, smile.
“Well then Miss Evaline seeing as you are clearly so desperate to make yourself stand out from your classmates you can sit right here in the front and you can remain here after class until you give me a full name.
Evaline opened her mouth to protest but her teacher cut her off by continuing with the other students. Evaline looked down at her desk, she pawed it with her hoof gently and pushed her purple shades higher up to her eyes. A hoof was placed on her shoulder from behind, she jumped slightly at the contact and turned around to see a black stallion with a neat white mane. It was Venence, who had been a friend of hers for the last few years. He smiled at her supportively and she returned it. She stood up and moved to the front seat. She pulled out a small book and, levitating the pencil, she wrote her name on the front;
Evaline
But Evaline who?
Scratch or Melody?
Author's Note
Part 2 has begun. A new year as begun and so this new part must begin as well. ENJOY!
