Just Beat It

by Unbridled Dolly

Rating: everyone
Tags: Maud Pie, Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, DJ P0N-3, Human, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Octavia, Romance
Length: 1012

Vinyl and Octavia have their first fight, and Vinyl finds solace in the calm tunes of the rocking Boulders, to her surprise.

Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody have a fight about Vinyl's obsession with music. Vinyl unexpectedly finds solace in the calm beats of the Rocking Boulders-- plus two friends.

Written for the Weekly Contests' Eighth Prompt: Rainbow Rocks. (Second place winner) Cover art by miyako47.

Published 2014-11-02 03:30:06 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-02 03:30:06 UTC

Keep Calm and Rock On

"Out," Octavia glared at her with the ferocity of a lioness. "I told you to get out. If you can't show me any respect, then you won't be allowed to show up at all. The door is that way!" On the couch, head still bobbing to the beat of her music, was Vinyl Scratch. She gave no signal that she had heard her ex-girlfriend's words. Octavia stomped over to her, yanked off her headphones, and shrieked into her ear, "I told you to get out of my house!"

"Tavi, what gives? Why'd ya' take my headphones? I just got to the good part!" Her eyes widened and she cringed away from the seething girl in front of her.

"I will not stand for this blatant disrespect. Get away from me before I have you arrested for trespassing!" Octavia all but hissed at the cowering DJ in front of her, still holding the accursed headphones. Vinyl opened her mouth to say something, but an incoherent hiss from Octavia quickly silenced her, and she accepted defeat. Eyes downcast, dragging her feet, Vinyl trudged slowly past her ex-girlfriend and out the door, not even stopping to retrieve her beloved, custom made headphones. Once outside, Vinyl headed off in no particular direction.

***

The bright leaves danced in the calm wind, accentuating the serenity of the park centered around the rippling pond. Aside from a few young ducklings fishing with their mama, the park seemed empty, but still, Vinyl could hear snatches of melodic music drifting through the trees. Great, Vinyl thought angrily, just what I need. Another thing to remind me of Tav-- Octavia. Might as well chuck a cello at my head and be done with it. Whatever. I'll check it out. Not like there's much else for me to do, now that Tav-- Octavia's hissing fire at me. Setting off at an ambling pace, Vinyl wound her way towards the sound as it gradually grew louder. What she discovered was hardly what she expected.

"Pinkie! Since when are you... so... still..." In front of the sitting party planner was a grey skinned, purple haired girl seemingly staring at nothing through half-lidded eyes.

"She's listening to me rock out."

Vinyl blinked in surprise at the oddly monotone voice the girl had, before turning to Pinkie and muttering, "Uh... who is that?"

"This is my big sis, Maud! Isn't she super awesome at playing her stringy instrument thingy?! The rest of her band-- the Rocking Boulders-- isn't here, so I'm making sure she's playing her bestest, which is really, really, really good!" Indeed, Maud had continued playing, and the sounds that she coaxed out of her instrument were truly beautiful. Almost like-- and then Vinyl remembered why she had wandered out in the first place, and her face fell again.

"Almost like Tavi..."

***

"And you have absolutely no clue why she gave you the boot to the booty?" Throughout the whole conversation, Maud had played, Pinkie had listened, and Vinyl had explained what happened.

"Nothing. She just said she didn't want me disrespecting her, and kicked me out," Vinyl replied, her head hanging.

"May--" Pinkie's eager exclamation was interrupted by a stop in the playing and an emotionless voice.

"Where are your headphones?" Vinyl's head shot up, and Pinkie gasped. "You're always wearing them. Maybe she wants her girlfriend to actually be with her instead. That is what girlfriends do, you know." Vinyl's hopeful smile faltered. Maud and Pinkie had to strain to hear the beginning of her next sentence.

"But... it's part of my career... my life... I've gone so long with my headphones, and it's even saved my life once... I can't just stop listening to music!"

"Yes, because Octavia would want you to give up your talent completely for her--"

"Of course she wouldn't! Just listen a teensy bit less! You did get here without them, right? How did you do that?!"

Vinyl's frown was still plastered on her face, but rather than looking dejected, it looked thoughtful, and her eyes had brightened. "I- I was distracted. Yes, that's- that's it! If I hang with Tavi, I'll be distracted, and I won't need to keep 'em on as much! And I'll be happily distracted! Thank you! You're geniuses!" Her renewed smile lit up as much as Pinkie's trademark grin.

"Don't you have a girlfriend to apologize to?" Vinyl gasped and sprinted towards the edge of the clearing, shouting over her shoulder at the waving Pinkie Pie and Maud, who had started playing again.

"Thank you so much! Love the beats, Maud!" The uplifting, soothing notes drifted after Vinyl as she ran towards the exit of the park, and as she turned around, out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw Maud's lips twitch uowards into the slightest of smiles.

***

Completely out of breath, Vinyl lugged her weary body up the steps to Octavia's apartment. I definitely should never run that far ever again-- I've got a car, for heaven's sake. And there was an elevator, Vinyl berated herself. Her body ached, yet her smile shone bright as a star. At last she had arrived, and she was going to apologize. She knew what to say. She was going to get her love back. As she dragged herself up the last few steps, Vinyl didn't even allow herself to think of the possibility that Octavia would reject her. I love her, and she loves me. She'll forgive me, now that I won't ignore her anymore. I know it. I will succeed. I just need to keep calm and rock on.

Lifting her hand, Vinyl made a fist and knocked on the door.

Author's Note

I finally finished this. It's my first attempt at anything even remotely romantic, and I don't have an actual plot to most of my stories, so this was kind of meh. It was written for a contest (link to the prompt is in the description), and won second place. I hope you liked it!