My Little Vinyl: Friendship Is Delicious

Chapter 2: Canterlot Sound

    I woke up groggily to the sound of a vacuum running in the living room. I groaned and rolled out of bed, onto the floor. I looked up at my alarm clock that I had failed to set the previous night, and it stated the time: 8:23 AM.

    “Uuuugghh...too early to clean,” I yelled. Octavia must have heard me over the quiet hum of the vacuum, because it stopped. “Can’t it wait until after breakfast, at least?” She must have heard that too, because I heard hoofsteps coming down the hall.

    My door flung open to reveal a worn out Octavia, her mane ruffled and drenched in sweat. She looked like she’d been up for hours, and was about to fall over. She steadied herself against the doorframe.

    “Woah, Octavia!” I rushed up to help her. I laughed a little, then I said “The first rule of hangovers: Don’t rush yourself.” I walked her back into her room and laid her down on the bed. She let out a blissful sigh.

    I just stood there for a moment. Despite her horrible appearance at the time, I was unable to see her as any kind of ugly. She seemed at peace laying there, content with what she had been doing while I was asleep, which, to be honest, I hadn’t even looked at yet. I smiled and stepped out of the room and walked towards the kitchen.

    I froze in my tracks when I saw it. It was amazing! It was beautiful! It...it was CLEAN!!!

    My smile twitched over and over again at what I was staring at. My mind started asking many questions. How did she do all this with a hangover like I saw? What brought her to wake up earlier than 10:00? Where did she learn to clean this well?

    And what in the name of Celestia did she do with my lingerie collection?

*** *** ***

    I started making breakfast around an hour after that. At first I had decided to go with bacon and eggs, but then I remembered I was the only omnivorous pony in Ponyville. I couldn’t risk running Octavia out of the house.

    I settled with grilled cheese and daisy sandwiches. Simple, but good. Let’s see...toaster, check...bread, check...cheese, check...daisies...shit, where did I put the daisies...ah, that’s right!

    I opened the front door of my house and looked to the left.

    “Daisies,” I yelled aloud, earning a strange glance from Applejack, who looked like she was on her way to Twilight’s castle. In my opinion, I think whoever created that went a little overboard for a small Alicorn and a baby dragon.

    “Good morning, Vinyl,” Octavia said from inside. I walked in with the daisies and shut the door, waving. “Sorry about the noise this morning, I just had this...urge to clean.”

    “It’s fine,” I said. “But you could have at least woken me up to help. I would have complied eventually.” She laughed, which made me feel accomplished.

    “Oh, by the way, Vinyl, your lingerie collection is in a drawer in the closet over there.”

    Oh. That’s what.

    “What is that I smell,” she said as she sniffed the air curiously. “It smells like daisies and cheese.” I made another sandwich and busted out a couple plates.

    “That’s because it is. Grilled cheese and daisy sandwiches! Want some?” I turned around and noticed she was sat at the table, eyes wide staring at me. Slowly, she licked her lips.

    “Yes.”

*** *** ***

    “I think I ate too many sandwiches,” I said as I held down a hurl. Octavia looked at me like I had just snorted Celestia’s shit off a dumpster lid.

    “And what was your first guess, Miss Daisy Sandwiches?”

    “My food baby.” I looked down at the bulge in my stomach. “They seem to be getting larger every time I eat…”

    We sat in silence for a moment, staring noiselessly at the ceiling fan above us. The house creaked just barely as it tends to do when the air conditioning turns on. I looked over at Octavia as she looked at me.

    “Hey, Vinyl?”

    “Yeah?”

    “I should probably head back to Canterlot soon. I don’t want to miss my rent payment.” She stood up and headed for the door.

    “Wait,” I called out. “Don’t think you’re going to Canterlot without me. I’ve never been, and you’re pretty much the only way I can get there!” She looked at me with a surprised expression. “And on top of that, I can’t let my new friend go somewhere fancy without me.”

    She started pondering the thought of letting me tag along. I stared as she thought, right into her deep brown eyes. They matched her mane so well, it’s like they were one and the same. Now I can’t say I’ve ever really had a thing for mares, but at that point, just seeing Octavia standing there with that adorable thinking look, I widely considered changing my mind.

    “Very well, Vinyl,” she said, snapping me out of my trance. “You can come along.” A little pony in my head did a happy dance, thankful that I could spend that much more time with Octavia. My outside self, on the other hand, stayed quite calm.

    “Oh, my Celestia, are you SERIOUS!?” Okay, maybe not as calm as I care to admit.

    “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” I pulled Octavia into a tight hug and only let go when I realized she had started turning blue. “Oh...sorry.” I pulled away and Octavia looked like she had just seen two ghosts giving each other tentacle anal. I proceeded to drag her out the door.

    About halfway down the way to the train, Octavia had regained her composure. We were moving at a hearty trot to the station. As we approached it, I read the sign above the main building.

    “The Friendship Train...why do you think they call it that?” I turned to Octavia, only to realize she wasn’t there. I started to panic a little. Had she been a dream? No...she’s not real, is she? Shit, this is happening AGAIN? Why do all the ponies I like end up being fake? It’s not fa-

    “Vinyl, are you coming?”

    Celestia dammit, I hope I didn’t openly freak out just then…

*** *** ***

    The Friendship Train isn’t the friendliest of machines.

    As we rounded the next turn, I felt my stomach lurch up to my throat. I held back vomit for the eighth time that day. Octavia patted me on the back which gave me a bit of comfort, but not enough to ease the “timber wolf eating my stomach from the inside” feeling.

    Eventually, and to my relief, the train came to a stop. Many ponies were in the passenger booths ahead of us, but I made sure I was the first one off that damned thing. I stood in front of the station for five minutes waiting for Octavia who, despite my rush, gave me a sympathetic look.

    On the walk to Octavia’s apartment, I got a good look around me. The buildings here had so much more architectural work, so much more color, so much more...everything! It was magical in every way, and I’m a unicorn. I know my magic. I was surrounded by that wonderful and enchanting Canterlot accent, the same one Octavia had attracted me with.

    We reached her apartment in a short amount of time, but as we arrived, there was a note on the door, and Octavia’s things appeared to be in boxes outside in the hall. Nice cello, I thought.

Dear Octavia,

We here at the Knightly Noble regret to inform you that there has been an infestation of, and I know this sounds ridiculous, but there has been an infestation of...rabbits. Before anyone says or does anything they will regret, these are particularly peculiar rabbits. They...eat furniture and drywall. The maid was cleaning and discovered a small nest of them under one of your counters. Unfortunately they had eaten most of your furniture in your absence and there’s almost no drywall left for this place to be hospitable. Luckily, though, none of your other belongings were harmed. Due to this horrible event, we will have to evict you, as your particular apartment has been foreclosed for the next couple of years, as the damage is quite horrifying. I apologize if there’s any inconvenience, and we have put a full furniture refund (plus interest) into your bank account.

Hoping you are well, Madame Bitsford

    Wow...what a harsh way to be nice.

    I heard a sob next to me and looked over to see tears streaming from Octavia’s eyes for the second time in 12 hours. That’s never good. I approached her slowly, but she just burst into a yell.

    “They could have at least put my things somewhere safer!” She went to buck at the wall of her ex-apartment, but I threw myself in front of her aim. Her hind hooves launched into my side, throwing me into the wall. Luckily enough I didn’t crash through, but my side still hurt. “Oh, my Celestia, Vinyl!” She rushed to my side. “What in Equestria did you do that for!?” I coughed from the lack of air I was receiving shortly, but I regained my ability to speak.

    “Well,” I said hoarsely (no pun intended). “I couldn’t let ya cause any more damage to the damn place.” I started to laugh at my own comedy, but clenched my side in pain. “I think my rib is cracked…”

*** *** ***

    Hospitals are NOT fun. They’re too proper, and they smell like excessive cleanliness. But at least Octavia was there. I offered for her to stay in the guest room at my apartment, and she had insisted I stay in the hospital in Canterlot while she and a friend of hers ran her stuff back to Ponyville. I had a letter sent to Big Mac asking to help. According to Octavia, he did most of the work. But at least it got done!

    Now we were in the hospital, waiting for the nurse’s report. She kept giving me severely apologetic glances, but I responded with reassuring smiles.

    “Quite the buck ya got there,” I said, breaking the strange silence that had seemed to build between us. It made her laugh, which brought a warmth to my heart.

    “Yes, I suppose it is quite impressive, though I apologize that I used it on you.” Another apologetic glance was shot my way. There was a pause between us, which she chose to break this time. “So what do you think of Canterlot, from what you saw?”

    “Well,” I responded. “It’s not so much the sight as it was the sound.”

    “And what does Canterlot sound like, then?”

    “Cracking ribs.”

    At this response we both shared a laugh, but mine was cut short by a sharp pain in my side. Dammit ribs, could you be any more annoying?

    I fell asleep in the hospital bed. I don’t exactly recall much about what had happened after that last laugh. It’s all kinda blurry. But I must say that, despite my injury, that was the best sleep I had in over a year.

    And I’d do it all again if it meant another day like that with Octavia.