I'm glad I met you Tavi-Waby
You know, both Octavia and I are really different. For example, I like my sandwiches to be pushed on. I like to eat them squished. It’s tastier that way. I promise! But Tavi doesn’t think so. She thinks that’s just silly. Instead, she cuts the corners off of her sandwiches. The corners! And she calls me the silly one!
That’s just a small example. But if you think about it, it really does explain how Tavi and I aren’t alike in any way really. So why is it that we’re still together? Sometimes I think about that. I think about how I met such an amazing pony like herself. There are so many ponies to choose in Equestria and yet, she chose me. I dunno why she did. I consider myself so lucky. Who would’ve thought that a lowly DJ like myself would get together with a well-known cellist? For starters, DJ’s in Equestria aren’t really seen as the norm you know? Heck, it wasn’t until recently that our love was considered the norm. You see, a long time ago when I was younger (which wasn’t too long ago), Equestria was under different laws. These laws prohibited pretty much the description of me; anypony who did the “vulgar” arts (DJ-ing) and anypony who was “vulgarly inclined” (whatever that means). So in the law’s eyes, anypony who was a DJ or “vulgarly inclined” was considered an introvert and was treated as such. This led to my father being arrested at a concert one day, just for DJ-ing! Everything I have learned from being a DJ I owe him thanks to. If it weren’t for my father, I wouldn’t be the DJ you guys know me as today. Brass Gramophone. That was my pop’s name. Sadly, he isn’t around to see Equestria anymore.
You see, my dad grew up in old Equestria. Remember those laws I told you guys about? Well, those laws were first introduced when he was a kid. His parents – my grandparents – were really the stickler kind of ponies. They were really hard on my dad and beat down the family tradition on him. Part of the family tradition was holding onto the last name of our family – Gramophone. My great-great-great granddad introduced the Gramophone to Equestria and because of it, our family was awarded considerable amounts of wealth from the princesses’ themselves (and to a lesser extent, extended lifespans. I’ll get to that later). But, you see guys, my real name isn’t Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl Scratch is a name that my dad gave me to replace the old one. My real name is Victoria Ida Nadia Yonia Lily Samantha Carly Reily Amanda Tori Coral Helena Gramophone.
I know I know, it’s a very long name right?
Well anyways, back to my pops. My pops loves music; he loves it like a second child (because obviously I’m the first). He has always loved music ever since he heard it for the first time. Not surprisingly, the first device where he heard music was what my great-great-great-granddad invented – the Gramophone.
Well anyways, one fateful day, my family gave my pops the task of handling the music for a family get-together. At first my pops really enjoyed playing music on the Gramophone; my uncle used to tell me that my pops would take it with him everywhere when they were kids. But for some reason, my pops, my very own pops, decided to go against what everypony told him to do (namely my family) and instead of letting the record spin normally, he decided to move the record the other way, which marked the first time that a scratch was made in Equestrian history.
My pops didn’t know it but he unknowingly created the art of “scratching”, a method still used by a majority of DJ’s today. As he nurtured this first “scratch” ever in Equestria, he also unknowingly made the first steps to DJ-ing. Now this is amazing and I’m sure most of you are going “Woah Vinyl that’s awesome!” Well remember how I told you about the family get-together? Well actually, the get-together was more like a “welcome back from the war” party. Yeahhh..the party was supposed to congratulate my uncle’s safe return from the first Griffphonic wars, a war started by Griffons but was fought by all species towards the end, including our species. But my dad kinda was in his own world at his brother’s party. See, his brother, my uncle, was considered a hero of the family and by the family and well, he actually was one: he saved 16 infantryponies from absolute death by the Griffons. You can imagine how the family reacted to my pops messing with the gramophone. My grandparents told my pops he was being disrespectful and grounded him. However my uncle actually liked what my pops was doing and said it was okay. And so, my pops became the first DJ in Equestrian history ever.
Honestly, I think that’s how my dad came up with my name. The name I go by now. And I guess he likes to think of me as the first vinyl he scratched; a wonderful and pleasant memory for him. Wow. How sweet of him, right? I guess you can label me as daddy’s little girl. That’s basically what I am heh. Anyways, because of my pops, our family heritage and name was “disgraced”. That’s one of the reasons why my dad changed my name. He didn’t want ponies to know I was a Gramophone. So yeah, we (as a family) went from being one of the most renown music families to being labeled “the degenerates of this age” and the “shame” of our age.
To be honest, my family was really boring before my pops and I showed up.
But of course, even a simple name change can’t hide that shame that Equestria felt was necessary to maintain on our family. My pops though was never shameful; he didn’t care what other ponies thought of him and his family. Sure he didn’t get along with his family sometimes but doesn’t mean he didn’t love them. So one day he wanted to truly proclaim himself for what he was; a DJ in an old world. He embarked one random day to a royal concert in Canterlot and he, with a modified gramophone, played songs he composed at that concert. He knew very well that the law did not take kindly to those who “deviated” from “acceptable and modern-like conduct”. But my pops did it anyways. He was brave enough to be who he truly is and for that he was arrested immediately and taken into Canterlot jail. For 6 months my dad was incarcerated until he was let out, which is when he met my mom.
Mom wasn’t anything like Pops. For starters, she would have never gotten arrested. Also, she wasn’t nearly as brave as him or robust but she was cool in her own way; she was always calm, no matter the situation. Mom had a white coat and I’m sure I get that from her but if that wasn’t enough, I also got half my mane’s color from her; blue. Pops used to tell me all the time when I was little that I reminded him so much of her. I used to ask Pops why I did. He said “you are basically a mini-version of your mommy. You have her fur and her mane. You even have her smile. Her beautiful smile, my dear little Vinyl.”
My mom’s name was Melody Tunes. Pops said she had a beautiful voice; so beautiful the birds would chirp with her. I used to ask my pops all the time what color her eyes were. He would often say “the same as yours Vinyl. Purple as lavender.” Sometimes I miss my mom and dad. To be honest, I think they left this planet too soon. Sometimes I think to myself how ironic it is that they left before I had a chance to. You’re probably wondering what I mean by that. Well it is exactly what it sounds like. I’ll explain later. Anyways, at least I met my dad. I never met my mom. Pops says that she died when I was really little. The only thing I remember about her is her smile. Every time I smile, I see my mom smiling too. It’s a nice reminder and then I think about it, I smile even more.
So you all are probably still wondering about the extended lifespans huh?
Well, if you must know, when my great-great-great-grandfather had made the gramophone, the princesses gave everyone in our family extended lifespans. This meant that anypony who was born with the original last name Gramophone would live twice as long as an ordinary pony. So yeah, my life is considerably longer then everyone else’s! Isn’t that cool? Well sadly, the deal didn’t include immortality. So because of that, my pops died during the Second Griffphonic wars.
When the Second Griffphonic wars came around, my pops was already middle aged; after all, he had practically raised me already (by that time I was almost a young mare). I didn’t want him to go but he constantly told me he had to, that he was meant to. He told me of his brother and how his brother had served and that he wanted to make his family proud. And so my father took off to that war and never came back. I remember the day he left so vividly. It was a Saturday, just like any other. He woke up early that day and made the usual; potatoes and eggs, just the way I like it. He even was careful not to wake me up, which he accidently does too often. And without saying a word, he left. All he left was a note. A note saying “Always be yourself, even when others or yourself don’t want you to be”. I kept that note for a long time. I even kept it when the Third Griffphonic wars came around on my 21st birthday.
I don’t know why I decided to enlist. I guess I was just being stupid. Or maybe I needed the money because the family’s fortune had basically evaporated like the name and reputation our family once had. Or to get revenge against the bastards who took my father’s life. Whatever the reason was I did it anyways. I’m glad I did so. At first I wasn’t but eventually I realized the real reason why I had. Sometimes we don’t see it right away but things happen for a reason. And I think I enlisted because if I hadn’t, I would have never met Octavia. There was me, the lowly DJ reject and Octavia, well-known Canterlot musican. But there’s more to Octavia then what is shown on the outside.
Octavia, like myself and my father, was expected to uphold her family name and traditions. And for a long time she did. She continued to do so once the family entrusted her with their traditions. However one of those traditions was marrying a stallion. However, I’m not really a stallion. I’m a mare, just like her. Octavia, from an early age, knew that she did not like stallions the way other mares did. I know exactly how she felt for when I was younger I felt the same way. For a long time I was confused on who I should like and I desperately tried to fit in. But Octavia and I were not built to be that way. No matter how hard the both of us tried, the attraction to the opposite sex was not there.
And so, for a long time, Octavia kept these emotions and these “tendencies” (as labeled by her mother) bottled up, hidden from most of her family. She felt that if ever she felt an attraction to one pony of the same sex, it would devastate her image and more importantly her family’s image. But Octavia knew deep down inside that she wasn’t what her family told her she should be and will be.
So when the third Griffphonic wars came around, she decided to enlist as well in the Equestrian army, despite outcry from her family. I don’t really know what her main motivation was in doing so. I think it was to show her family that she is a free individual who can do anything she wants. Whatever the reason was, that reason led to her meeting me as we were paired up in the same division.
When I first met Octavia I didn’t really feel anything at first. I mean early on I knew that I didn’t like stallions but I wasn’t sure if I liked mares though. And so we really didn’t talk much to each other, despite having bunks right next to each other. I thought she was shy and I’m sure she thought the same of me. I do remember what the first thing she said to me was. It’s actually kinda funny. She asked me, “Why do you wear those ridiculous hideous huge oversized purple shades of yours?” in that adorable accent of hers. Of course I replied “Because I can. Why do you wear that crooked ridiculous bowtie of yours?”. And for about several days, she ignored me and only talked to me if our NCO demanded it.
So yeah, that’s how we met before the both of us were deployed. Who knew we would both be living in the same area that we had fought in together. Amazing how coincidences work, huh?
Well after basic training, Octavia and I, along with our division, were sent to administer and protect Ponyville from possible threats. So that meant we had to help with enforcing martial law and all that other “fun” stuff. I guess the Princesses didn’t deem Ponyville a high value asset because our division was the only division there; the rest were being sent to the frontlines. Heck, even the royal guards were sent on the front lines. Well unfortunately, the Griffons thought Ponyville was an essential high value asset. So, in my third month of active duty, the Griffons launched a massive counter-attack at Ponyville. On all days, the Griffons chose Monday. I’ll never fully understand why Monday. And it wasn’t in the afternoon or in the morning. Out of all times, they chose noon.
That morning, Octavia finally talked to me. After three months of basically ignoring me, she finally talked to me! I was so excited and when she did, I nearly jumped up and squealed with delight. I don’t know why I felt that way. All she said was, “Good morning Vinyl. How are you?” with a smile when we both woke up. Nonetheless I replied quickly, saying “Good morning to you Tavi!”. Then I realized I gave her a nickname without actually knowing her well enough to do so. And when I did, she gave me a serious look. I was kinda ashamed that I did that without thinking and I looked down. But she told me ”It’s quite alright. I had one for you too. Vinny.” I smiled at her when she said that and I think that was the first time that I started feeling something, not for just a mare, but for this mare. However our NCO came into the barracks and started shouting orders. He demanded that I go watch the cafeteria at the local school while Octavia would go and watch the music hall, which was on the other side of town. And so we both said goodbye but we both knew we meant “see you later”.
With the orders I was given, I then headed out to the school, which wasn’t far from the barracks. I don’t know which pony designed the layout and place the school would go but why put it so close to a military installation? I don’t know why that was done; last thing kids need to see is war and those who fight in wars. Anyways I trotted over to the school and when I did, I was greeted by the school children. They all collectively said “Good morning, how are you?”. I smiled at them and told them I was doing great and that I was told by their teacher to watch them. The school children giggled and ran off into the classroom. I then continued trotting into the cafeteria and I set up a defensive position once I did, facing south. I started thinking about Octavia and wondering how the music hall was going. And before I knew it, I was lost in my thoughts about Octavia and even worse, I lost my track of time.
Pretty soon, that’s when it happened. The Griffphonic assault on Ponyville. And there I was, in the school’s cafeteria fumbling with my hooves, lost in deep thoughts about a mare I probably would never get. I couldn’t believe how fast everything was happening; all of the sudden I heard loud explosions and felt the ground rumbling. So I picked up my machine gun and readied it as fast as I could. I stayed in cover and listened to the Griffon War Birds up above raining down on us. I looked over to the school children and I told them to stay low. That’s when one of the War Bird’s bombs hit the cafeteria and exploded, destroying the roof above us completely. When the explosion was over and the debris had fallen, I looked to see if the school children were there and I couldn’t see them. For a long time I had wondered why I had made it but they never did. At that moment, that was the last thing I wanted to think about. I checked myself to see if I was alright and I was; besides a few burns on my limbs, I was going to be okay. I waited for the War Birds to leave and I quickly left the school, to rush over to where Octavia was. Apparently, Octavia was thinking the same thing as I was.
The two of us stood there in the wide open street, just staring at one another. I asked her why she was outside in harm’s way and she asked me the same. And for a while we just stood there like dumb asses until I saw a Griffphonic tank behind her. I yelled for her to take cover and she did but I couldn’t move quick enough as the tank fired. I used my magic to create a defensive shield and it worked, but made me fly backwards from the impact and as a result I was knocked out from hitting a store’s wall behind me.
~~~~~~~~
When I came to, the first thing I saw was fire. Fire everywhere. I started coughing from all the smoke in the air and I got up, dusting off myself and trotting around to see if I could find anypony. When I found out that everypony I found wasn’t alive, I even went to where Octavia was when I saw her last just to make sure and she wasn’t there. I didn’t know what to do and quite honestly at that time I didn’t even remember what or who I was. So you can imagine how much of a shock I was in when I saw a couple of Griffons patrolling around. I ducked behind a house, carefully peeping over to see what they were doing and if they saw me. Turns out they didn’t see me; they just started talking about what they were going to do when the war was over. When I heard their conversation, I thought about that too. Who was I and what was I going to do when the war was over? I didn’t get much time to think about it as more Griffons started to show up. I slipped into the shadows of the coming night and stayed as quiet as possible until I fell asleep again.
When I woke up, I saw tank treads passing by me for I was hiding underneath a house. I even saw rows upon rows of talons hitting the floor in a rhythmic fashion, accompanied with rhythmic grunts. I remember how confused I was; not only was I unaware of who I was but I was unaware of what was happening in front of me. I stayed quiet despite my confusion and continued to observe what all was going on. This is when I formulated a plan; a plan that hopefully would get me out of there alive. For three days I watched the Griffons’ movements and their tendencies. So by the third day, I considered myself an expert on how the Griffons operated, at least in the area I was in.
In those three days I ate what I had and made do, which wasn’t much but enough to survive. I ran out of water on the second day, so I was pretty thirsty once the third day came around. This is when I acted on the plan I had made.
What I noticed in those three days is that the two Griffons I saw earlier when I ducked would always go in front of the house I was hiding under. Every time they did so, they would always have their backs to the house and talk with one another about the most random of conversations. And when they did that, an officer of theirs I’m assuming would go out there and scream at them to stay focused and alert. This would usually occur once in the morning and once at night. However during the day there was hardly any activity, save for the occasional messenger passing by. I concluded that the best time I should go out would be noon. I really couldn’t tell time very well under the house but I did have a watch that my pops gave me. Of course I didn’t remember it until I felt something under my right hoof the second day. It was a wadded up piece of paper and I opened it. The paper read “Always be yourself, even when others or yourself don’t want you to be”. The words felt familiar at the time and I couldn’t remember who it was that wrote it. But thanks to me opening it, I found out I had a watch on my right hoof. And so, I was able to gauge time more accurately.
So on the third day, I went out, right after I anticipated the departure of the messenger. And just as I had anticipated, there were no Griffons in sight. That meant I had several hours to find Octavia and to find food as well as finding water. After a couple of hours of searching, I only found food and water, no Octavia. And for a while, I wondered why it was that I remembered her but didn’t remember anything else very well. However, the two patrolling Griffons came around sooner than I thought they would, which forced me to go back into hiding once again.
And so, for about 37 days, this cycle continued. I was determined to find this “Octavia” and I even convinced myself she was the one I was to ask if I was to find out who I was. And for those 37 days, I retaliated against the Griffons, sabotaging anything I could and trying to delay anything I could. Because I knew if I did, I would have more time to find Octavia. Eventually, the plan worked and I found her. I found Octavia. And when I first did, I didn’t know what to say. But she did. “I’m so glad to see you Vinny! Oh you look great! I know we’ll make it out” she said, and even hugged me, to which I did nothing. However my cheeks did blush when she hugged me and that’s when I started realizing that Octavia was more than just a name I had remembered; she was a pony I cared about, a friend. And so I hugged her back, almost crying as I did so. We found a safe place to be and we sat down, talking about what had happened.
I told her what I had been doing for the past 37, now 38 days. And she told me what she had been doing. I was surprised at what she told me; for starters, I didn’t know she cared about me that deeply. She told me of how she sneaked around to find me and how she listened to what the Griffons were saying in hopes that she would hear them say where I was. And she so happened to be thinking of me when I found her, which caused her to hug me rather quickly. And when she told me all of this, I sat there perplexed that such a beautiful mare like herself would do all of that for me.
And so, both Octavia and I spent the next several days, weeks and eventually months together in Ponyville, just trying to survive and sometimes getting separated due to circumstances but never ceasing to fight back against the Griffons. It wasn’t until 10 months after the initial invasion of Ponyville that the Griffons started leaving Ponville, due to Royal forces defeating Griffphonic forces at Canterlot. Eventually, the Griffphonic armies all surrendered, ending for once and all the Griffphonic wars that had plagued the nation as a whole for decades. Once Octavia and I heard that the war had ended, we happily cheered and celebrated with the residents of Ponyville.
A day after the surrender was signed by the Griffon commander; Octavia and I were ordered to go to Canterlot. We didn’t know at first why but we soon discovered why. Celestia and Luna personally wanted to thank Octavia and me for our actions at Ponyville. They told us that without us, the lovely town would cease to exist. They even said “Through their actions and perseverance, let it be known that true courage can come from all walks of life, to those considered introverts, to those in high regard, courage knows no boundaries.”
And just like my uncle and my father, I was awarded a medal for serving and so was Octavia. We also were awarded the Equestrian Medal of Courage, for our valiant and heroic actions. The ponies gathered before us all cheered for Octavia and I; all I could do in that moment was look at Octavia and smile. And I’m sure that’s all she could do as well; for she smiled back at me.
Celestia and Luna then told Octavia and I that we were honorably discharged and that we could go anywhere that we so desired as payment for our service. Of course, the first place that came to both of our minds was the same place we had fought in for 10 months. The same place where Octavia and I bonded with one another and eventually fell in love with one another.
Ponyville.
The war was tough; there were things I did that I’m not proud of. It wasn’t any different for Octavia; she had to kill some of the Griffons and she did. And so going back to Ponyville was hard at first; it only reminded us of the horrible things we did during the war. But, with hoof in hoof, the both of us trotted back to Ponyville and settled in, embracing it as our town together. Because Ponyville was our town. We fought for it and as a result, we became attached to this town. And there is nopony in this world who can take that away from us.
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At first our relationship was there but not full fledged. We had fought together but we didn’t want to rush things too quickly. So we did get a house together but we slept on opposite sides of the house. And at first we were just friends. Very good friends. But I knew that Octavia wanted more than just that. She wanted a life with me and I’ll never could quite understand why back then. I was just starting to remember everything again, from my life as a kid and my family and my parents. How could she want somepony who didn’t know who she was?
One night I stumbled into a bar and I drank, because I started remembering the war again. I kept drinking and drinking, so that I could forget everything. And for the most part I was successful. I don’t really remember much that night but I do remember seeing Octavia and that’s when I knew I was supposed to spend my life with her. It was like I met her all over again and that’s when I knew she really did love me, for she took me home that night and cuddled me to sleep.
With time, and with Octavia’s love and support, I started discovering who I was again. I’m Vinyl Scratch, daughter of Brass Gramophone and Melody Tunes. I’m a DJ and I will always be. More importantly, I am who I want to be. And if that means being with Octavia despite what society used to think of us, then so be it!
~~~
Within the first couple of months, Octavia and I gathered enough courage to declare our love for one another. We thought that we would be shamed but the residents of Ponyville were the opposite of what we expected; instead they were very supportive of us. And within the first year of our stay in Ponyville, the law had changed as the Princesses declared that both marriage and love with the same sex was perfectly legal. Octavia and I were so happy that the law had changed and we celebrated it for weeks.
Now that I look back on my life, I am glad I met Octavia. Without her, I wouldn’t be the same unicorn you see today. Without her I wouldn’t be DJ-PON3. So Tavi if you’re reading this, I want to say I love you a lot. I love you with all my heart and then some. Because Tavi, there is no other pony I would rather be with than you. Only and always you, Tavi-Waby, my best friend and my soon-to-be wife companion for life.
Yours truly,
Vinyl Scratch
Aka DJ-PON3
Aka “Vinny”.
