Finding Octaves in Vinyl

Finding Octives in Vinyl
Chapter 1: Prior to Performance

Vinyl walked into the large building in the center of town, her eyes bright with the excitement of the situation. There was a crowd of ponies outside who she had assumed would not have a chance to get in, though were trying their best to listen to the event. She had realized almost immediately after entering the town hall that this was going to be more memorable than anything she had done in a long time. There was a bright red curtain flowing across the stage to hide the area that was most likely set up with a scene for the performance. The bleachers of the large hall were set up with several chairs that looked comfortable, almost like you could slouch down into them and go to sleep.

Her parents had lead her to the front of the hall, next to the stage where they had managed to get front row seats. Scratch smiled wide as she sat down in her chair, realizing that they were as comfortable as they looked. She was sitting beside her father, who was speaking to a few ponies as they passed by, as well as her mother every now and then. Scratch decided it was best to just sit silent for a while, not really wanting to disturb her mother and father while they were having such a good time. The concert hadn’t even started, and they were already having so much fun.

Vinyl tapped her dad on the shoulder about fifteen minutes before the concert was suppose to start. “I have to go to the washroom( little fillies room), okay dad?” she said in a quiet voice, unable to stop smiling even after this long.

“Okay Scratch, but come back as soon as you are done, okay? You wouldn’t want to miss this performance!” he exclaimed, his voice showing the same amount of enthusiasm as Vinyl’s face.

That was all she needed to hear, so she slowly got out of her seat and headed for the washroom. This wasn’t her first time in the town hall, so she knew the washroom was fairly close and thought this shouldn’t take too long anyhow. She was only going to the washroom after all, not back to her house or anything. As approached the washroom, she heard a silent sob coming from inside, and paused for a moment before opening the door.

“He-hello?” Scratch slowly said as she started to open the door. She was trying not to startle anyone inside after what she had heard, and wanted to see what was wrong. “Is… anyone in here?”

There was no response, though she heard one of the latches on a stall *click* as it latched. She went into one of the stalls herself, sitting down before saying, “Is something the matter? I wouldn’t wanna worry anypony.” Her voice was sincere and caring, though all she heard was a soft whimper coming from the next stall. After a couple of minutes.

Scratch stepped outside of her stall and stood in front of the stall where the whimper had come from. She just couldn’t stand to know that some other pony was crying, especially at a time like this. All she could think of is how great this performance was going to be, and how wonderful it would be to meet the artist.

She smiled as she thought of something that she could do to get the attention of the pony in the stall. It was a long shot, but she slowly walked over to the door, opening it and allowing it to close on it’s own. She stood silent, holding her breath so that the other pony might come out. Sure enough, the door of the stall opened a few moments later, a silver pony with a treble clef on flank and a dark grey mane. She had some tears flowing down her cheeks, and didn’t really notice Scratch it had seemed.

“Hey there,” Scratch said in a gentle and understanding voice, “Are you okay? My name is Vinyl Scratch… but you can call me Scratch if you want.”

The silver pony nearly jumped at the voice of Vinyl, tears constantly flowing down her cheeks as she now also looked scared. She didn’t say anything, so Vinyl thought that maybe she should comfort her. She remembered her father saying come back as soon as she was done, but this seemed important, so she decided against going back just this second.

The silver pony felt the gentle touch of Scratch, though she had not been paying attention and was a little startled by it. She backed up a couple of feet, looking at the white pony. She remembered hearing her name just a few moments ago, and tried to control her tears, though had a hard time doing so. “I…I…I’m Octavia…” she said, putting more effort into it than would be expected.

Vinyl smiled a bit as she heard the name, giving Octavia a hug for just a second and then releasing her from her grasp. Scratch was blushing a bit, looking away for a moment before speaking in a bit more of a shy voice. “What’s the matter Octavia?” she asked, still looked away from the silver pony.

Octavia was shocked by the hug, though it felt nice so she decided that it would be best to allow it to slip her mind. She felt a bit more calm now, as if Scratch had been a long time friend. This was strange for her, as she didn’t really have any friends in the past, and was usually made fun of by those who she thought had not understood her.

Gathering her thoughts, Octavia let out a short line, sobbing the whole while. “I… I’m scared. I’ve never been in front of a big crowd like this, and I’m afraid they might not like what I play.” She was still tearing up, though she seemed more calm now than before. It was strange, and almost foreign to her. She had opened up to a stranger like she had never even opened up to her parents.

Octavia felt a bit of cold water touch her face as Vinyl’s hoof came up to wipe away the tears, rubbing her cheek a bit to fix up Octavia’s coat. She felt warm inside, like Vinyl was a sweet and gentle pony who was nurturing her back to health. She smiled, the tears stopping as she held back a light chuckle.

“I think you’ll do great,” Vinyl said, looking Octavia in the eye as she started to wash up the other side of Octavia’s face. “I would love to have the opportunity you do. You have so many ponies here to see you do what you do best, and no pony would wish for any more than that!”

Octavia wrapped her fore hooves around Vinyl’s neck and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear, “If only you could be with me on stage, I would feel so much better…”

Vinyl wasn’t expecting that to be said, but knew just what to do. After a few seconds, she slowly pulled out of the hug. She noticed Octavia was blushing, and slowly removed her grandmothers collar and bowtie, placing it around Octavia’s neck. It had always helped Vinyl to know that her grandmother was watching over her from some place distant, and she figured it could possibly help Octavia now.

Octavia smiled, looking at Vinyl scratch with a look of comfort, almost love. Vinyl was happy that she was able to help, though a voice was soon able to be heard, informing everyone to please take their seats as the performance would soon be starting. The two girls gave each other one last hug, Vinyl saying she would be in the front row, and Octavia saying she would play something nice for her.

They both left the washroom a few seconds later, vinyl heading for her seat and Octavia heading to the stage to get ready to perform for her new friend.