Baleful Bass

Chapter 7: Baleful Bass
Two pairs of eyes opened at the same time, one pair ruby red and the other a pale blue. Vinyl grinned, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Melody. Not expecting it, the pillow hit her smack bang in the center of her face. Her eyes narrowed and a smile spread across her face as she grabbed one of her own and hurled it at Vinyl, who ducked, dodging it by millimeters only to be hit by another one a second later. There was much laughter as the two mares playfully threw pillows at each other before Melody hurled herself at Vinyl. They landed together in a clumsy heap, Melody ending up below Vinyl, both laughing. Melody feigned fear and spoke in a cute voice. “Oh please, don’t hurt me mistress!” Vinyl grinned and leaned down close. “Would I do that pet?” Melody’s eyes half closed, tasting Vinyl’s breath as she strained to get a kiss. “Never...” The two came together tenderly, neither willing to break the physical bond. Eventually they had to part for air, and Vinyl grinned at Melody. “So Mel. What do you want to do today?” Melody clapped both forehooves down on Vinyl’s flanks. “Breakfast sounds good.” Vinyl nodded in agreement. “It does. And may I say my love that you’re filling out nicely. Very curvaceous.” Melody blushed and pushed Vinyl lightly. “Get out!” “No really!” The two stood up and walked into the kitchen, still spotless from the night before where they’d skipped dinner. Vinyl got out a few eggs and some hay bacon she had stashed in the fridge, taking them over to a spare bench. Melody had already gotten out a skillet and was heating it up. She threw a carefree smile at Vinyl which she returned, a mischievous sparkle in her ruby red eyes. “V, can you get the toaster? We’ll need it for the toast.” Vinyl’s horn glowed and the toaster floated out of a cupboard and onto the bench. Melody smiled slightly. “I guess magic comes in handy sometimes.” Vinyl nodded, passing the eggs and hay bacon to Melody to cook. “Sure does. But I’m nothing to Twilight.” Melody looked at her in confusion. “Twilight Sparkle? The librarian?” Vinyl looked at Melody blankly. “You’ve met?” “Where’d you think I went after I ran away?” “My first thought was Demonheart. Not Twilight and Tal.” Melody giggled. “Well, I didn’t actually know where I was so, I was just sort of lucky I guess.” Vinyl looked at the egg in the skillet. She pointed it out to Melody who squeaked and dug around for an egg flip before coming up and finding it perfectly flipped, courtesy of magic once more. She looked thankfully at Vinyl. “What would I do without you V?” “Find me I hope. I’ve never been happier in my life.” Melody blushed and watched the egg, trying to hide it. She felt Vinyl’s forehooves wrap around her and a soft kiss on the back of her neck. “You... You really mean that?” Vinyl laughed softly and kissed her ear. “Of course. By the way, I think the egg is done.” Melody looked at the egg. It was indeed done and a plate was already next to the skillet. The egg was quickly transferred to the plate and Melody frowned. “This is going to take too long.” “Impatient Mel?” “Hungry.” Melody discarded the skillet in favor of a big frying pan and threw all the eggs in at once, adding the hay bacon barely ten seconds later, cooking it till the hay that made it up was crispy, as all ponies knew Hay bacon was meant to be eaten. The meal smelled heavenly as Vinyl prepared the toast. They ate in companionable silence, occasionally glancing at each other. There was a series of rapid fire knocks and Vinyl visibly blanched. “Oh no... She’s here.” Melody peered at Vinyl curiously. “Who?” There was a pink blur followed quickly by a blue one and both ponies were knocked off their feet. Vinyl looked up to see the smiling face of Pinkie Pie, while Melody saw the grinning face of Joy Bringer. The two spoke in unison. “Hey girls! You’ve been invited!” A sheet of paper was thrust in front of their faces, their eyes wide. They took the paper hesitantly and the two ponies vanished in twin blurs, one blue and one pink. Vinyl groaned and sat up. “Forgot about him.” Melody got up and grinned. “Well his girl better watch out. I’m the only mare who gets to sit on you V.” Vinyl blushed and chuckled. “In that way? Yes.” Melody giggled and looked at the sheet of paper and her eyes went wide, her jaw dropping. “V... Octavia has arranged a party... and has invited us!” Vinyl looked quickly at the paper and frowned. “That... cannot be right.” Her red eyes wandered across the paper, getting wider by the second. They narrowed suspiciously. “Something just ain’t right here.” “It’s in two days... In the Lapis theater.” ~*~ Octavia was setting the stage for her performance. Her double bass was set up in the middle of the stage under the main skylight. She was still angry at that Melody, Vinyl’s newest marefriend, for insulting her, despite having broken her precious violin. “You will not soon forget this Vinyl. Nor will you Melody.” ~*~ Two days had passed, and neither pony had gotten any sleep. They were too worried about this invite from Octavia to get any sort of sleep. It was the day of the party and Vinyl was suspicious. “Why? Why would she invite us of all ponies?” Melody shrugged, still brushing her mane. “I’m not sure V. It could be an attempt at an apology.” Vinyl snorted derisively. “Octavia? Apologise? I’ve never heard or seen her do so.” Melody finished brushing her hair ad looked critically at Vinyl Scratch. “Hmm, maybe you should fix your mane.” Vinyl glanced at her mane in concern. “Why? What’s wrong with it?” “It’s neat. Fix it please.” Vinyl looked incredulously at Melody. “You want it messy?” “You simply aren’t you without the hair love.” Vinyl shrugged and shook her head quickly, tousling her mane. Melody smiled at her. “That’s much better.” Melody kissed Vinyl lightly on the cheek and giggled. “You’ll be the best looking mare there.” Vinyl shook her head and looked at Melody affectionately. “Not a chance Mel. You’ll definitely walk out with that award.” Melody smiled. “Perhaps.” ~*~ The two walked back into the flat at almost twelve, both with tears in their eyes. The party started out fine, Rock Ranger presenting Octavia, a few tunes being played. It was, all in all, a happy affair. Then it all went wrong. Octavia had called out that the song she was about to play was inspired by and was about the new pony in town, Melody. Vinyl was once again wearing her shades. At first, the two were quite interested. But their curiosity vanished and was replaced with horror when they realised the song was insulting. It was subtle, but both of them picked up on it, as did Rock Ranger. Ranger had left her to introduce her own songs. He took Rainbow Dash and had left the theater along with his friends. Vinyl and Melody had left soon after, tears in their eyes and a dejected trudge replacing their normal walk. Now they were lying in their bed, crying into the shoulder of the other pony. Melody’s wings were wrapped around Vinyl comfortingly. “I... I knew it... knew it wasn’t an innocent party... Why... Why did we go...?” Melody was trying not to cry, but was failing badly. Her tears were soaking into Vinyl’s mane, darkening the light blue colouration. “Because we still had a small flare of hope...” “I hate her... I really hate her...” Melody rubbed Vinyl’s back where she could, trying to comfort her. “I know what she said about you wasn’t nice V, but...” “It isn’t what she said about me Mel... It’s what she said about you. I can take insults... But nopony insults my love or my friends.” Melody gently pushed Vinyl away slightly. And looked her in the eyes, her shades having been removed to allow for the tears. “Vinyl... I...” Vinyl held a soft hoof to Melody’s mouth, stopping her from speaking. “Please don’t. This is my burden to carry.” Melody took the hoof in both of hers and pulled it to her heart. “Not anymore Vinyl. Now we carry it together.” Vinyl went to speak, only to find herself cut off as Melody kissed her. She melted into the affection, desperate for some release. Her red eyes closed slowly. A beat started to pulse in her head and her eyes snapped open as lyrics came to her. She sat up suddenly, startling Melody. “That’s it!” “What’s it?” Vinyl Scratch grinned her signature daredevil grin. “I’m going to write a song to retaliate.”