The halls of Canterlot General Hospital were usually pretty quiet. Most people in this town seemed to avoid injuries or illnesses pretty well, so the usual frantic hustle and bustle of other hospitals was frequently absent in this place. However, that was not the case today. For throughout the hospital there was activity both seen and heard throughout the wards, as doctors and nurses found themselves far busier than they were used to. Still, they did their jobs as well as could be expected. In the middle of all this however was a single teenage girl, dressed mostly in white, with bright blue hair and purple glasses, striding in from the welcome room to one of the building's many hallways.
Vinyl Scratch, noted amateur DJ and student of the local High School, was waltzing through the hospital with a big smile on her face, stopping every once in a while to check the names on the wards as she passed them by. Eventually, a particular name on a nearby door caught her attention, and she opened it and looked inside. There were a number of people in the beds here, many of which she recognised as fellow students from Canterlot High, including one Lyra and Bonbon. The girls were dressed in the standard light-blue attire of those staying at the hospital for extended periods of time, and they noted briefly as she entered, giving a small smile and a wave in greeting to her, which she returned.
However, it was in a much closer bed that she saw who she had come looking for. It was another girl her age, with long black hair. Octavia, who like Vinyl was known in their school for her love of music, though anyone who knew them could tell you that this is where their similarities ended. Octavia's left arm was covered in a plaster cast, which already had the names of a few of her friends scribbled on it, wishing her a speedy recovery. The girl looked up and saw Vinyl entering the room, closing the door behind her as she did. She gave a small smile as she saw Vinyl grab a nearby chair and sat down next to her bed. Octavia let out a sigh before speaking.
"I'm glad you were able to come here, Vinyl. Faust knows I could use some company right now."
Vinyl smiled at that before gaining a look that suggested she just remembered something. Sliding her school-bag off her shoulders, she unzipped it and began rummaging around in it, all while Octavia was looking at her with some confusion and curiosity. After a few moments, Vinyl smiled again and pulled out what Octavia recognised immediately as the latest edition of the Canterlot High newspaper. The blue-haired girl offered it to Octavia, who took it with some hesitancy. Using her one available hand, Octavia unfolded the paper and read the headlines, wherein her eyes widened. At the front of the paper was the title "Battle of the Bands Over!" accompanied by a photograph of the winners, the Rainbooms. Octavia stared at the photo for a moment before letting out a sigh, which prompted Vinyl to tilt her head a little. Seeing this, Octavia gave her friend a reassuring smile.
"It's fine, Vinyl, really. The better musicians won in that contest. I was upset at the time, to be sure..."
She then looked away from her friend and towards the cast on her arm.
"...but it was mostly because of this."
A look of annoyance gripped her face as she continued speaking.
"I just don't get it! Music isn't supposed to send people flying off the stage like that! Not unless it was one of your so-called "super-wubs" or something."
A similarly-annoyed look took root on Vinyl's face, though it subsided once that realised that it was Octavia who was in the right to be angry right now. So, she simply remained silent as her friend carried on.
"I mean, there I was, giving a fine musical performance if I do say so myself, when all of a sudden, BAM! That Rainbow girl struck a chord on her guitar and sent me off the stage like a rocket, right into the wall!"
She looked down at her cast again.
"I'm just thankful the doctors say I'll be recovering soon."
"I hear that!"
Both Octavia and Vinyl looked up to see that the second voice had come from none other than Lyra, who along with Bonbon had looked over to watch the two girls. Lyra's expression matched Octavia's as she spoke.
"Since when does music suddenly become weaponized like that? When Trixie did that guitar stunt of hers, me and Bonbon here fell flat on our backs afterwards. Did a real number on our shoulders when we fell too."
Vinyl looked over to see that the two girls did indeed have some sort of bandaging on their shoulders, Lyra's on the right and Bonbon's on the left. However, it was here that Bonbon spoke up, her tone of voice far sadder than that of Lyra's.
"I just wish we'd have gone further than we did. I thought we were doing so well."
Lyra looked over to her friend and her expression softened. The girl smiled before reaching over and placing a hand gently on Bonbon’s hand, gaining her attention. It took a few moments, but Bonbon returned the smile, and the two girls let out a small chuckle together. Octavia too had a smile on her face as she addressed them.
"I caught a glimpse of your song together. You were very good."
The two girls looked over, still smiling.
"Thanks! Yours was great too," Lyra commented.
The girl then narrowed her eyes a little, seeming deep in thought, before addressing the whole group.
"I just...don't understand how I could have felt so angry towards you, Flash and all the other competitors. It was like...like something was pushing me to act like a real jerk towards you."
Octavia nodded at that. It was a feeling she had known for some time, but only now that Lyra had said that did she realise that she was not the only one to feel it. It was as if some long-dormant competitive spirit had taken root in her, urging her to keep going forward and compete against her schoolmates, even going so far as to openly insult them every once in a while. It was a far cry from how she normally behaved, and even now she felt no small measure of guilt over allowing herself to act that way. Though, if Lyra's words were any indication, she was hardly alone in this. Still, as she let out a small sigh, she spoke softly to the girl.
"It's fine, Lyra. I think all of us just got wrapped up in the moment. No harm done."
Lyra and Bonbon looked at her for a moment before smiling at her, which Octavia promptly returned. With that matter settled between them, Octavia's attention was then drawn back to Vinyl. A sound could be heard from the blue-haired girl's ear-piece, which Octavia recognised immediately as her usual brand of music. In spite of her friendship with vinyl, Octavia couldn't help but let out a groan as she heard it.
"I still don't understand how you can stand to listen to music like that. It's so...loud and gaudy."
Vinyl must have heard her, because it was in that moment that she turned to face her friend with an even wider smile than before. No words were spoken, but the message was clear, that she agreed with Octavia’s opinion on the matter, but still loved the music anyway. Octavia, knowing all-too well that this was a lost battle on her part, merely let out a sigh before leaning back onto her pillow.
"Well...I suppose in all fairness it's far from the worst kind of song I've heard."
Looking straight ahead, her eyes narrowed a bit.
"That honour goes to theirs."
Vinyl raised an eyebrow a little before turning her head to see where Octavia was looking, at which point her eyes could be seen widening under her glasses, making it clear that she understood exactly what her friend was talking about. There, on a pair of beds on the opposite side of the room from them, was Snips and Snails. They too were dressed in the standard outfits of overnight patients to the hospital, but it was their faces that caught Vinyl's interest, as their mouths and lower faces were completely wrapped in bandages. Both boys looked rather annoyed at the moment, not helped by Octavia letting out a small giggle.
"Well, one good thing about all this is that we won't have to hear any more of their terrible attempts at rap music. Fell right on their jaws after Bulk was done with them."
That remark got the desired effect, as both boys started mumbling from under their bandages, though naturally their voices were severely muffled. Both Lyra and Bonbon jokingly put hands to their ears, both knowing they wouldn't be able to make out what the two were saying, before letting out contented sighs. The four girls all shared a laugh together, much to the chagrin of the two boys, but the mood was then interrupted by the sound of the ward door opening. All of them looked on with shock to find that it was none other than Trixie who now stepped inside. Like everyone else there, save for Vinyl, she was dressed in the attire of the patients. The only difference being her trademark purple hat, which she rarely went anywhere without.
However, what everyone there noticed immediately was that the girl was coming in on a pair of crutches. Looking down, they noticed that her left foot was wrapped in bandages, clearly showing some kind of injury. Looking up at her, they all noticed the annoyed look on her face. She was scouring the room, looking over her fellow patients, though when she caught sight of Lyra and Bonbon, she started to look somewhat embarrassed. Octavia didn't need to ask why though, since she knew that it was Trixie who had bested them in the band competition. Even so, the girl decided it would probably be best to break the silence.
"What happened, Trixie?"
The blue girl took the opportunity to look away from her still-angry-looking schoolmates and turned her attention towards Octavia, before attempting to strike one of her famous over-dramatic poses.
"The great and powerful Trix-ARGH!!!"
Clearly Trixie had forgotten about her foot during that pose, as she'd put too much pressure on it and was now leaning heavily on her crutches again. As she took a few deep breaths to recover from that, she spoke.
"Like I was saying, Trixie fell over a wall after the contest. Sprained her ankle. She'll be here a day or two at least."
Octavia raised an eyebrow at that.
"Why were you trying to get over a wall?"
Trixie gained an unmistakeable look of embarrassment on her face before replying to that.
"None of your business!"
Lyra, who had been angrily watching Trixie this whole time, gained a smirk on her face before speaking up.
"You tried one of your failed escape attempts again, didn't you?"
Trixie frowned at that.
"Shut up!"
Lyra chuckled at that.
"Well well, I was going to stay mad at you for beating us, but after that, I guess we can forgive you. If only for giving us something to smile about."
She and Bonbon both chuckled at that a little, prompting no end of annoyance from Trixie, who was very clearly fuming over the remark. Letting out a huff, she began to turn around and make her way out of the ward.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need this! She is off to find more appropriate company. Good day!"
The girls all watched as Trixie made her way out of the ward, slamming the door behind her quite loudly. After a few minutes of silence however, Octavia started pondering over something before looking over to Vinyl.
"Now that I think about it...did the contest actually change Trixie all that much?"
