The Family Business
---/)(^3^)(---
Rather than simply being a beautiful family accessory, strive to be certain that you know every detail of how to run the Family Business, so if anything unpleasant happens to Daddy, the transition of Power will go smoothly. Thus allowing you to pursue the enemies of the family diligently, thoroughly, and mercilessly.
—The Guide for the Wicked, but Dutiful Daughter
---/)(^3^)(---
Octavia Melody practically stormed down the hall of the train's passenger car with steady hoof beats. Her face was set in a fierce glare that caused several passing ponies, and one griffin, to very quickly give the scowling mare the right of way. Vinyl Scratch sighed inwardly and tried to keep up with her angry marefriend. Giving apologetic smiles and the occasional "sorry" as she went.
Finally arriving at their assigned suite in the compartment car, Octavia promptly flung open the door, sat down, and leaned against the window. Using her magic, Vinyl closed the door behind her and sat beside her quietly fuming marefriend. Erring on the side of caution, Vinyl decided to let Octavia cool down on her own.
Vinyl idly tapped her hooves against her thighs, the tension still thick in the air. She chanced a peek at her marefriend out of the corner of her eye. Octavia was sitting quietly at the window, a frown was tugging at the corner of her lips as she stared out at the passing scenery in deep thought.
To a normal pony this quiet demeanor would indicate a sedate state of mind, that would put others at ease. Which is precisely why it scared the Tartarus out of Vinyl. Through personal experience Vinyl had come to know the various flavors of Octavia's anger quite well and only one of them was quiet. Vinyl's two personal favorites were cello-case swinging angry and Vinyl-I-can't-take-you-anywhere angry. Neither of those forms of Octavia's anger were scary, loud yeah, but not scary. This quiet anger was a rare thing and unpredictable thing, which is why it bothered Vinyl so much. Now that she thought about it, Vinyl had only seen this kind of anger once before with that one jerk of a griffin that had been harassing her over being a fillyfooler. Actually now that she gave it some thought, Vinyl remembered the griffin had left the building very quickly after Octavia had gone to his apartment to talk to him.
Eh, he was jerk so whatever, Vinyl thought with a shrug. More important is the fact that Tavi is supremely ticked off.
Granted, Vinyl knew it was her mother, who had declared her complete and unquestionable disapproval of Vinyl's choice of an Earth Pony marefriend, that had so thoroughly angered Octavia. But knowing what had led to this situation wasn't much of a comfort.
Not like I was expecting much else, but hey Tavi wanted to meet my folks, Vinyl thought to herself darkly.
Octavia finally looked away from the window with a sigh and leaned back into the seat of the passenger car's bench, "Vinyl, I feel I owe you an apology."
"Uh, you do remember it was my stuck up bint of mom that was the badly behaved one, right?" Vinyl asked with an eyebrow quirked over her trademark purple shades.
"Yes, but I was the one that insisted on meeting your parents," Octavia admitted dejectedly.
"Yeah, but you also laid out some wicked cool insults before you dragged me out of the manor," Vinyl countered with a grin.
Octavia just groaned and buried her face in her hooves.
- Earlier -
"You are of neither proper birth, nor station, to so much as stand before me. Let alone to try and claim my Vincenza as your 'fillyfriend'," Baroness Palladium declared with all the "righteous" indignation she could muster at the obnoxious grey earth pony that dared to try and claim her daughter.
Honestly, Octavia thought things were going to go smoothly. Meeting Vinyl's father had been smooth sailing and without incident, but then Vinyl's mother arrived, like a dark and heavy storm clouds, fat with thunder and rain. Octavia did her best to try and steer the evening to pleasant conversation, but Baroness Palladium was having none of that and kept on throwing her weight around like heavy waves of a storm.
With things so thoroughly of course and heading to disaster, Octavia decided to at least go out with a memorable bang.
"Well, Duchess, if we are going to be honest with each other," Octavia replied with a saccharin smile as she decided to put her old Shakespearean drama lessons to use, "Thou art the proper presentation of a mongrel bitch."
Mentally Octavia was writing her last will and testament. While Vinyl watched her in awe and admiration.
The Baroness went red with anger and sputtered, "YOU INSOLENT—"
Octavia didn't even let her finish.
"Villainess! I have done thy daughter and plan to again, if not for love than simply to spite thee!" She declared before storming out of the manor with her nose held high.
- Currently -
"I fear your particular form of insanity is contagious, my dear Vinyl," Octavia said, rubbing her forehead.
Vinyl laughed and leaned over kissing her marefriend's cheek, "Well, you were crazy hot standing up to her like that."
"I suppose it was foolishly heroic," Octavia replied with a smile, her ire all but forgotten, as she leaned into her marefriend's side. "However, are you certain we should be fleeing so quickly?" she finished with her brow furrowed in annoyance.
Vinyl sighed and wrapped a forehoof around Octavia, happy that her marefriend was at least calm now. "Yeah, with how much pull my mom has in Canterlot it's best if we hide out a city or three away for awhile."
"Hmm, shall we spend a month in Manehatten then?" Octavia suggested tapping her chin with a hoof thoughtfully.
"Nope, mom's got a summer penthouse there," Vinyl countered with a sigh, "and a very loyal staff that would 'rescue' me from you, if it means brownie points for them."
"Are you serious?" Octavia asked turning her head to give Vinyl an incredulous look.
"Afraid so, Tavi," Vinyl replied with a shrug before an idea struck her. "Oh, oh how about we stay with your mom in Trottingham?"
"Out of the question, Vinyl. You know my mother doesn't have the space to house us," Octavia countered firmly poking her marefriend in the chest.
"Okay, Las Pegasus it is then," Vinyl declared with a grin, pointing a hoof in the city's general direction.
"No, we are not going to Las Pegasus so we can stay with Mixer," Octavia said with a glare. "You're enough of a party animal without your cousin making it into such an event that the Guard shows up to end the party."
"Only four guards showed up last time," Vinyl lamely offered with a petulant pout.
"N,o and that's final," Octavia said firmly, before leaning back into the bench seat.
Vinyl sighed dramatically and flopped back into the bench's cushion beside Octavia. "So where does that leave us?"
"Well, we..." Octavia started, but shook her head, "No, no that wouldn't work."
"What wouldn't work?" Vinyl asked, idly stroking Octavia's mane.
"We-we could visit Chicolto and see if..." Octavia trailed off with a mumble, looking out the window.
At her posh marefriend's mumbling, Vinyl slipped off her shades and gave her a nudge. "Come on, Tavi, you know we aren't exactly rolling in bits, so we can't be too picky where we crash for a few weeks."
Octavia chewed on her bottom lip while quickly debating on whether or not to impose on her estranged father. After all, there were quite a few reasons to not go. One of the bigger ones being her unrefined and chaotic marefriend. Octavia loved Vinyl, she really did, but the mare was physically incapable of doing anything in an orderly fashion.
"So a relative of yours lives in the Windy City?" Vinyl asked after giving her marefriend a few moments to think.
Octavia nodded absent-mindedly as she continued weighing pros and cons.
"Well, Tavi, most of your family seems to like me so things should go smoothly," Vinyl assured her with that daredevil grin of hers.
Buck it, our finances are poor and it's not like things could get much worse, Octavia thought, before looking to her grinning marefriend. "Alright, Vinyl, we'll go to Chicolto."
"Sweet! A new city for me to rock out in!" Vinyl practically squee'd, hopping around the travel compartment.
Octavia smiled watching her marefriend do the happy dance then pulled her cellphone out of her saddlebag. After taking a moment to gather her resolve, Octavia dialed the number her father had given to her in a Hearth’s Warming card when they last spoke.
The phone rang twice before it was answered by a steely, yet elegant, sounding mare. "How may I help you?"
"This is Octavia Melody, please inform your employer I am coming to Chicolto for a possibly prolonged visit," Octavia said trying to keep her voice calm, even, and business-like while Vinyl brushed against her teasingly on her way to the mini fridge.
Octavia shot her mischievous marefriend a glare, while a faintly heard a pen scratched onto paper roughly before the mare replied with the follow up question Octavia was expecting, "Is this for a Business appointment?"
"No, personal visit. He'll know who I am. Also, inform him I have a guest with me," Octavia answered while said guest had her snout buried in the mini-fridge, digging for food, with her flank up in the air.
"Very well," the steely voice replied before hanging up.
"The employees are as curt as ever," Octavia muttered as she slipped her phone back into her saddlebag.
Eight hours, one change of trains, and a moderate ticket fee later, the pair of musical mares found themselves bathed in mid-morning sunlight as they trotted through the Great Hall of Union Station. Octavia found the beautifully-carved pillars, the high barrel-vaulted ceiling, and well-polished marble floors comforting in their familiarity.
Still as beautiful as ever, Octavia thought looking around the train station as she walked with her marefriend.
She was broken out of her revelry by a nudge from Vinyl, "Hey, Tavi, are we supposed to meet somepony?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Octavia replied adjusting her saddlebags.
"Well, why's that stallion got your cutie mark on a sign then?" Vinyl asked pointing to a tan earth pony stallion, in a vest and jacket, with a white placard bearing Octavia's purple treble clef in a resting position against his hooves.
"It seems we're expected," Octavia said with a sigh. "Come along, Vinyl."
Said unicorn raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and followed her marefriend.
"Miss Melody?" The stallion asked in a light baritone.
"Yes, and this is Vinyl Scratch," Octavia replied with a nod to the unicorn beside her. "She is with me."
The stallion gave a polite smile to the DJ before returning his attention to Octavia. "My name is Brass Cap, and my employer sent me to escort you to a carriage that will to take you to the hotel, ma'am," the stallion explained in a polite, business-like tone.
"Um, carriage and hotel? I don't remember the tickets being part of some kind of package deal," Vinyl said scratching her head.
Brass Cap glanced to the DJ, before giving Octavia a questioning look, causing the cellist to give a slight shake of her head. Vinyl looked between the two earth ponies slightly confused and feeling like she just missed out on something really important.
"Right this way, ma'am," Brass Cap said with a nod to the front of Union Station and began walking to the stairs at a sedate pace.
"Um, Tavi, is there something I should know about?" Vinyl feeling slightly out of her depth.
"Don't worry, Vinyl, I'll explain once we get into the carriage," Octavia assured her marefriend with a smile as they followed Brass Cap to the parking garage.
"Okay, so does this guy work for your dad or what?" Vinyl asked while she and Octavia followed the stallion.
"Yes, though I don't remember him from my last visit," Octavia replied wearing a thoughtful look. "Granted, that was over seven years ago."
As the carriage came into view, Octavia had to suppress the urge to facehoof. While Vinyl stood there gawking in awe, she recognized that the carriage waiting for them was nothing less than the opulent, sleek, and aggressive looking Rolls-Royce Phantom passenger carriage being drawn by a pair of rather finely dressed, muscular stallions.
"Tavi, this... this is our ride?" Vinyl almost stammered out as her purple shades slid down her snout, revealing that her eyes were wide with surprise.
"So it would seem," Octavia replied doing her best to not grind her teeth as she growled internally, So much for keeping a low profile in front of Vinyl.
"Is there a problem, ma'am?" Brass Cap asked, tilting his head while holding the carriage door open.
"Several," Octavia nearly growled before stomping towards the carriage, leaving her marefriend staring dumbly at their luxury transport.
"Come along, Vinyl," Octavia called out as she slid her saddlebag off and passed it to Brass Cap.
"Wait, wait!" Vinyl declared, her magic digging through her overstuffed saddlebag, "Let me get my camera! Nobody is gonna believe I got to ride in—"
"Now Vincenza!" Octavia nearly shouted, slipping into her clipped and curt Canterlot accent.
"Yes, ma'am!" Vinyl yelped, hopping into the carriage and quickly settling into the plush seat. Vinyl had long ago learned arguing with that voice was a bad idea.
Brass Cap closed the carriage door and settled into the box seat at the front and instructed the driving ponies, "To the hotel, gentlecolts."
While Octavia brooded, trying to decide the best way to explain things to her marefriend, said mare was amusing herself by figuring out what the numerous buttons and switches inside the carriage did.
"Vinyl, please stop playing with the buttons," Octavia said with long suffering sigh.
"Just killin' time while you calm down," Vinyl replied with a shrug.
Don't tempt me, Octavia thought with a small smile at Vinyl's unintentional black humor.
"I suppose I was a bit worked up," Octavia begrudgingly admitted.
Vinyl just raised a skeptical eyebrow in response, but kept any snippy remarks to herself.
Discretion is the cornerstone of this business, Octavia mentally reminded herself with a sigh, before she began, "Okay, Vinyl, I'm sure you've figured out that my father is a very rich stallion."
"No kidding, I mean, we are riding in a personal carriage worth over a hundred thousand bits," Vinyl said gesturing around the carriage's massive interior.
"I am painfully aware of that, Vinyl," Octavia replied with a scowl, before slumping into her seat.
"So your dad's got big-time business bits, eh?" Vinyl asked with a grin.
"That's one way to put it," Octavia said with a small smile.
"Okay," Vinyl said, her curiosity piqued, "what kind of business stuff is he into then?"
Laying it all out will be necessary, but now isn't the time, Octavia thought before deciding to be vaguely honest. "Mostly import, export, and a bit of construction before I left."
"Well, Chicolto is known for that kind of stuff," Vinyl said said toying with the window button. "If he's so successful, how come I've never heard of him?"
"My father believes in being discreet," Octavia replied watching the passing streets, thinking back on her old lessons.
"Makes sense," Vinyl said with a shrug. "So why'd you leave?"
"My father wouldn't let me into the family business," Octavia answered, scowling out the carriage's window.
Vinyl found that a strange answer, but was cut off from asking for clarification by the carriage coming to a stop.
"Ma'am, Miss Scratch, we've arrived at the hotel," Brass said as he opened the carriage's door for them.
"I'll explain the rest in our hotel room," Octavia said, silencing any objections with a kiss on Vinyl's cheek before she stepped out of the carriage.
Vinyl smiled, following Octavia out of the carriage, then froze up as she saw which hotel their carriage had stopped at. Octavia felt only a slight annoyance as she looked upon the familiar hotel.
Before the mares was the magnificent street entrance to the one and only Peninsula Hotel of Chicolto. The lobby's glass and brass doors gleamed proudly with impeccably dressed door-stallions opening them in a sweeping fashion. Beyond the open door laid the high polished marble floor of the lobby with an artful smattering of chairs and tables placed about it. While various well-dressed ponies, and occasional griffin, lounged about or checked in.
Vinyl stood there with her mouth hanging open in surprise and making the occasional choking sound of disbelief. Octavia let out a resigned sigh and calmly closed her marefriend's open mouth with her hoof.
"Was the Peninsula Suite reserved?" Octavia asked looking to Brass.
"Yes, ma'am, he insisted on only the best for you," Brass answered with a nod.
I suppose it was to be expected, Octavia thought to herself. "Tip the carriage stallions and see that our bags are sent up, Brass," Octavia said in a business like tone.
"Right away, ma'am," Brass Cap said with a smile and turned to address the carriage stallions and bellhop.
Vinyl was now certain she was completely in and over her head as she sat in a very plush and comfortable chair at the mahogany dinner table, glancing around the magnificently large and luxurious Peninsula Suite that had been, apparently, reserved for her and Octavia.
It wasn't that Vinyl had never been in the lap of luxury, after all she was from a "noble" line of unicorns that lived in the Canterlot palace. However, she hadn't been expecting to be thrust back into it at a five star Chicolto hotel suite. Granted the suite looked more like a penthouse to the DJ, since it was nearly three times the size of their apartment back in Canterlot, with its skyline view and four big rooms. The suite also had a terrace with a cafe table and an outdoor hot tub, a wall to wall theater screen with a huge couch in the living room, and a freaking piano in the sitting room. And not just a piano. No, their hotel room's sitting room had a baby bucking grand piano!
So Vinyl felt, at least, somewhat justified in feeling that she was out of her depth in this situation as she sat with her marefriend eating a freaking four course lunch.
"Vinyl, please stop looking at the room and eat something," Octavia said pointing to Vinyl's plate of asiago and basil stuffed portobello mushrooms with her fork.
"Only if you start with the explaining," Vinyl said before shoving a fork load of portobello into her mouth.
Octavia glowered at the unicorn, before relaxing back into her chair with a thoughtful look. "Tell me, Vinyl, what do you know about Al Capony?"
"Same as everypony knows I guess. Bootlegging and having ponies shot, typical mobster stuff," the unicorn in question, replied scratching her head before inhaling another fork load of portobello.
"Right, import and export," Octavia said emphatically as she speared a mushroom with her fork. "Very profitable business at the time."
Vinyl nodded as she chewed, making a get on with it motion with a twirl of her hoof.
Octavia raised an eyebrow at her blasé response and decided to be a bit more blunt in her presentation, "Mister Capony also had bits spread into various businesses in the Chicolto area as a means to launder approximately one billion bits before he was incarcerated."
Vinyl paused mid-chew and stared at her marefriend for an almost awkwardly long moment before swallowing with an audible gulp.
Come on Vinyl think. I know you're smarter than you act, Octavia thought as she watched the gears in her dear DJ's head sluggishly turn as she began to connect the dots.
"Big business type bits?" Vinyl asked setting her fork down, having decidedly lost her appetite for the moment.
"That's one way to put it," Octavia purposefully replied before sipping from glass her of white wine.
Vinyl's eyes widened in understanding while Octavia just waited for the inevitable.
"You..." Vinyl stopped and glanced around the room before leaning forward, "Octavia are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"The Peninsula has an excellent privacy policy, you can say it out loud if you like," Octavia said with a shrug before sipping more of her wine.
"Your dad's a bucking mobster?!" Vinyl exclaimed incredulously.
Octavia winced at her marefriend's tone, but nodded.
"You—you're seriously from a mafia family?!" Vinyl nearly shouted her eyes wide with shock, "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"
"It didn't seem wholly relevant. My father has made it very clear that I am not to take up the family business. I was all but disowned seven years ago," Octavia said quietly as she looked down at her half eaten plate of food.
"What do you mean?" Vinyl asked her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Father didn't want his dear daughter getting into his dirty business, despite how good I was shaping up to be managing it," Octavia finished with a grumble before downing the rest of her wine like a shot glass.
Vinyl stayed seated in her chair, looking rather dumbfounded, as she tried to process this revelation.
Underneath her well hidden nervousness, Octavia was rather glad her marefriend didn't run out of the hotel the moment she admitted what her father really did for a living.
"If it makes you feel better, Vinyl, my mother has nothing to do with father's business anymore," Octavia said as she swirled a speared portobello in its sauce.
"Wait, you mean your mom, your sweet, affectionate, somewhat clingy mom, was a mobster too?" Vinyl asked tilting her head, trying to wrap her head around the image of Octavia's sweet mother wielding a shotgun or smacking a pony with a baseball bat over a late payment.
"Something like that, but do not ever bring it up with her. My mother doesn't want to anything to do with father's business any more," Octavia explained in a serious tone.
"Okay, so why'd she leave your dad?" Vinyl asked trying to put everything together.
"Well, after one of the carriages was, well, blown up I'd say the dangers of his career became a much bigger factor," Octavia explained, nervously tapping her hooves together.
Vinyl sputtered trying to get a word in, but Octavia's mouth just kept on running.
"I mean, it is perfectly understandable given the situation, but there were other things my mother could have suggested," Octavia rambled on. "Plus she already knew what kind of business father was in despite his refined manners. There were other options besides ones that wouldn't divide our family up..."
At her marefriend's rambling, Vinyl quickly walked around the dinner table and put her hooves on her shoulders.
"Octavia," she said firmly as looked into her amethyst eyes.
The cellist blinked and was brought to pause by Vinyl's use of her full name.
"I understand," Vinyl said softly looking into her marefriend's eyes, "Yeah, I'm a little freaked out, but to be honest this kinda explains a few of your odd habits."
"Such as?" Octavia asked cautiously with an arched brow.
"Like how you're almost always trying to watch everything that's going on around you or how you never let us walk the same way back to apartment after a night out," Vinyl replied with a shrug. "It's not a bad thing. Besides I'm not going to leave you over this," Vinyl finished with a small smile.
Octavia felt herself smile at Vinyl's words. "Thank you."
The DJ smiled back and leaned in to place as loving kiss on Octavia's soft lips, but the moment was lost when the phone rang.
Octavia quickly slipped out from between her chair and marefriend, trotting over to the phone.
"Yes," Octavia said into phone, shifting into her straightforward, no-nonsense business tone.
"Miss Melody," the steely mare with the somewhat polite tone said, "a carriage will arrive to pick you and your... unicorn up at one P.M. Dress casually."
"Thank you, we will be ready," Octavia replied politely before hanging up the phone with a sigh.
"Sooo what's up?" Vinyl asked trotting, over to Octavia.
The cellist was quiet for a moment as she pondered over the parlance. Casually? Well it's a good thing father took away all my accessories.1
"We're meeting my father tomorrow at one o'clock. He's sending a carriage to pick us up after twelve," Octavia explained idly tapping her hoof on the phone, "So we'll have to skip lunch and get ready to meet him instead."
Vinyl pouted at that. "Aw mare, I hate skipping lunch."
"Oh please, Vinyl, we'll just have a big breakfast before we get ready," Octavia replied rolling her eyes.
"Huh, in that case do you think we'll have time for a quickie in the shower before we eat?" Vinyl asked with a devious grin.
SMACK!!
"OW!"
Until Octavia smacked her upside the head. Then trotted off grumbling under her breath.
"That wasn't a no!" Vinyl replied with a small grin as she rubbed the back of her head.
It was ten till twelve and Octavia was waiting on Vinyl to finish getting ready. Octavia had, as usual, woken up before her marefriend, ordered breakfast from room service, then woke up Vinyl by throwing a pillow at her head. The musical mares ate their breakfast together, but the cellist refused to share the shower, much to Vinyl's disappointment.
While waiting for Vinyl to finish, Octavia had decided to pass the time with a cup of coffee and a newspaper she had ordered from room service earlier.
Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for Vinyl to waltz out of the bedroom, fresh out of the shower and drying her unruly mane with the towel in her magic's grip. "This hotel is awesome! Hot water for ages."
"Vinyl, you're leaving a trail of water on the carpet," Octavia said disapprovingly, despite its futility.
"Pfft, this place can afford it," the DJ scoffed before running the towel over her back.
Octavia rolled her eyes before drinking the last of her coffee.
Vinyl zapped the towel back into the bathroom, before giving her marefriend a concerned look, "You gonna be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Octavia said, setting her now empty coffee mug down and giving her marefriend a serious look, "Vinyl, in all very real seriousness, please try to behave when we meet my father."
"I know, I know," Vinyl replied rolling her eyes, "no, goofing off and watch my language."
"Yes, but there are a few other things to keep in mind," Octavia said as she rose from her chair.
"Like what?" Vinyl asked before slipping on her shades.
"Well, my father and his associates share a certain... distrust of unicorns," Octavia replied a bit nervously.
"Like racist?" Vinyl asked with a somewhat amused smirk.
"No, no, it's just that most unicorns, in Chicolto at least, have long standing ties to businesses that are aggressively competing with my father's," Octavia explained as she adjusted her bow-tie.
Vinyl let out a thoughtful hum, before turning to face her marefriend while wearing a smirk.
"So's da uni-corn mob is musclin' in on yer pop's turf?" Vinyl asked in an atrocious movie mobster accent.
Octavia groaned and facehooved before replying, "For the love of all that is sacred, Vinyl, do not speak like that with my father."
"Alright, alright," Vinyl said with a laugh as she opened their hotel room's door. "Anything else?"
"Do not mention anything about who your mother is," Octavia replied rubbing her forehead, before giving her mane a quick check in the mirror.
"Why not?" Vinyl asked tilting her head.
"My father does not hold the Canterlot nobility in high regard," Octavia explained as she walked past her marefriend and into the hallway.
"Oh good, I'll have something in common with him," Vinyl snarked in a perfect deadpan.
Despite herself, Octavia snorted in amusement as she walked to the elevator.
"I must say, Vinyl, you're not nearly as nervous as I thought you'd be," Octavia said before pushing the elevator's call button.
"Like I said, your dad being a mobster kinda explains a few things," Vinyl replied with a shrug.
"Yes, you said that last night," Octavia said idly tapping a hoof, "I don't suppose you could give me another example though?"
"Well you take almost everything so cooly, like nothing can completely throw you off," Vinyl said before her usual cocksure grin spread across her lips. "Except for me."
"In, oh so, many ways," Octavia agreed with a smile.
As the elevator’s doors opened, Octavia couldn't suppress a roll of her eyes at the sight of four well-dressed, and mostly likely armed, ponies waiting in the elevator. Octavia glanced at each of the ponies quickly noting the choice of sports coats the three stallions and one mare wore along with the subtle bulge in each of their sports coats and their shod hooves. Meanwhile, Vinyl just chuckled nervously and scooted closer to her marefriend.
"Silly or filly?" Octavia asked the four ponies, her bored expression belying her tensing muscles.
"Get out of here, stalker,” replied the lead pony, a short earth pony mare with a light blue coat and short, white mane.
Vinyl just glanced between her marefriend and the ponies in the elevator, clearly at a loss as to what just happened.
"It's a password, Vinyl," Octavia explained to her marefriend.
"Yeah," the sharply dressed mare explained, "My name's Derringer. Me and my associates are your escort."
"Escort? Is there any dangerous stuff going on we should know about?" Vinyl asked still a bit nervous.
Derringer frowned and arched an eyebrow at the unicorn's question, but any snide comments she had were shot down by the dark glare Octavia leveled at her.
"Um, no, Miss Scratch, just a precautionary measure. You know, standard procedure stuff," Derringer explained nervously, trying her best not to wilt from the glare her boss' daughter wore.
"Nothing worth mentioning, correct?" Octavia asked in cool tone as she stepped into the elevator with Vinyl following her closely.
"No, ma'am," Derringer quickly replied and pushed the elevator's lobby button.
And that's another reason Tavi's dad being a mobster makes sense, Vinyl thought to herself as she watched the rest of their "escort" fidget nervously around the cellist.
As the luxury riding carriage pulled up, Derringer opened the door for Octavia and Vinyl.
"Where will the meeting be held?" Octavia asked before she stepped inside the carriage.
"A cider distribution warehouse at Dickens and Clark," Derringer promptly replied.
"Sounds rather secure," Octavia said slipping into the carriage after Vinyl.
As soon as the carriage was on its way, Octavia let out a sigh and slumped back into her plush seat.
"Stressed?" Vinyl asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Just a touch," Octavia replied rubbing her face.
"Any last minute stuff I should know?" Vinyl asked as the luxury carriage was pulled up to a side entrance to a big, but rather plain, red brick building.
"Just remember what I told you and everything should be fine," Octavia replied as the carriage door was opened for them.
Waiting for the musical mares at the loading dock was a light grey coated pegasus mare wearing a darker grey sport coat. Her blonde mane was short and her steely blue eyes seemed to watch the entire room with an almost predatory air.
"Miss Octavia and Scratch?"
"Yes, and you are?" Octavia said rather cooly with an arched eyebrow.
"Call me Sterling, Mister Marecone is waiting for you," she replied, unperturbed, and lead the musical mares further into the warehouse.2
Following Sterling, Octavia and Vinyl found themselves being led past dozens of stacked boxes containing bottled cider before finding themselves in front of a plain, but strong-looking, wooden door.
Sterling knocked on the door sharply, then opened the door for the two mares.
Octavia nodded and walked through the door.
Next stop, the mob boss' office, Vinyl nervously thought to herself as she followed her marefriend.
What VInyl was met with certainly wasn’t what she had expected. The room was spacious without being huge and was obviously expensively decorated. The walls were a dark varnished wood, the floor was a plush white carpet, a few paintings were on the wall, in the rooms center was a large, antique-looking, wooden desk with matching overstuffed chairs. If she hadn't known better, Vinyl would of guessed the office belonged to a hot shot business-type.
Noting her marefriend slipping into the plush high back chair on the left, Vinyl took a seat in the chair on the right.
And realized that her marefriend's father, upon whose approval Vinyl's life could very well be dependent on, was very clearly focused on her.
Yay, me, Vinyl internally cringed.
Pushing aside her nervousness, Vinyl decided to take a good look at the stallion sitting across from her and Octavia. His coat was the same grey as Octavia's, he was a couple inches over average height and appeared to be in his early forties, with some scattered grey hairs in his short, well-groomed, black mane. He was also wearing a very expensive looking suit, but it was his eyes that caught Vinyl's attention the most.
Huh, Octavia's eyes are the same shade of amethyst as her father's, Vinyl thought as she looked for any other resemblances.
Despite being nervous about the meeting, it was only now that Vinyl started to truly worry when Octavia and her father simply stared at each other for several long and tense moments. Octavia's face was set in her typical cold, stoic gaze while her father wore the placid expression of somepony ready to react in an instant.
"Father, you look well," Octavia said breaking the silence with all the affection of an iceberg.
"As do you my dear," Marecone replied with a small smile despite his rather even tone.
Sweet Celestia's teats and here I thought my relationship with my mom was bucked up, Vinyl thought as she glanced between father and daughter.
"Vinyl, this is my father, Mr. Marecone," Octavia said, still as frigid as ice water.
"Um, nice to meet you," Vinyl greeted the seated stallion a bit nervously.
Octavia gave her marefriend a small approving nod before speaking, "Father allow me to introduce..."
"Vincenza Allegrezza Piano Scratch, daughter of the Neightalian composer Giovani Silver-Note and Baroness Palladium, but better known as DJ Pon3," Marecone finished smoothly as he steepled his hooves in front of himself. "Yes, I am well aware of who she is, my dear."
"Yes sir, that's me," Vinyl quickly said with as charming a smile as she could manage.
"Still spying on me, father?" Octavia asked in a cold accusatory voice.
"Despite what you may think of me, my dear, I have nothing, but your best interests at heart," Marecone replied smoothly.
"Oh yes, you told me the same thing when you shipped me off with mother and refused to let me visit," Octavia said with a saccharine smile.
Okay, if they get really bad I'll jump through the window on my right, Vinyl thought as she tried to work out if she could handle a jump from a two story window.
"I did not allow you to visit, because I never wanted you getting involved in the Business," Marecone countered, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh please, father, I've known about this 'dirty business' of yours since I was twelve," Octavia scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
"Had I known that, I would have tried harder to keep you out of this," Marecone replied, looking at his daughter with, what Vinyl thought, an almost sad expression.
"All without ever seeing if I'm good at managing this Business," Octavia said through nearly gritted teeth.
It was at this moment that Vinyl's mind caught onto a subtle undercurrent to the argument and a realization dawned on her.
"You wanted her to have what you never had, didn't you?" Vinyl said, voicing her realization without even realizing it.
Octavia turned to berate Vinyl, but was interrupted by her father's voice.
"More than you can ever imagine," Marecone replied with a small frown.
Octavia turned to face her father, her expression caught somewhere between surprise and anger.
"I'm guessing you had your back to a corner a long time ago, huh?" Vinyl ventured while Octavia was left speechless.
"Indeed, Miss Scratch," Marecone replied with a nod.
"But father, you always seem so calm and in control," Octavia said after finding her voice, "Are you saying you never wanted this life?"
"My dear daughter, I never had the luxury of a choice in joining in the Outfit," Marecone said softly, "One reason I have fought to establish myself as the Baron of Chocolto was to guarantee that you do have a choice."
"If that's true, then why let me visit now? Why didn't you have your colts just hoof over some bits and send us off?" Octavia asked slumped back into the chair.
"Because, after seven years, I wanted to see with my own eyes," Marecone replied with a small smile, which brought a smile to his daughter's face as well.
D'aww, mobster with a heart of gold, Vinyl thought with a smile watching the pair.
"Plus I had to be sure this unicorn was good enough for you," Marecone added casting a side long glance to Vinyl.
But still a mob boss, Vinyl thought nervously, but kept from showing it.
"Yes, mother said something similar," Octavia said with a smile.
Marecone was smiling and about to say something more, but Miss Sterling quickly opening the door broke the mood.
"Sir, trouble," Sterling said her voice laden with tension.
"Explain," Marecone said as he rose from his chair.
"Our spotter just reported the North Triquetra Gang's hitters are on their way in force, sir," Sterling explained casting a suspicious glance towards the only unicorn in the room.
Octavia and Marecone caught this and replied in unison, "Preposterous."
Father and daughter shared a brief smile, before Marecone elaborated the feeling he shared with his daughter on her choice of a marefriend.
"Miss Scratch comes from an impeccable, if prideful, family," he explained as he left his desk, slipping off his expensive overcoat, and walked to a large unassuming wardrobe, "Even with the previous, less-than-savory, characters we found in her background checks, it is extremely unlikely that she could be connected to the North Gang in any way. Plus, she's a NeighItalian," Marecone finished with a smile before pulling out an armored combat vest and slipping it on.
Octavia looked like she wanted to say something about the increasingly dangerous situation, while Vinyl stared nearly slack jawed.
"As you say, sir," Sterling replied with a grunt.
Turning to look at the pegasus, Vinyl's jaw nearly fell off as she saw the mare heft a large double barrel shotgun from a filing cabinet.
"Sterling, call the trouble shooters and get Derringer to show my daughter and her fiancé out of the warehouse," Marecone declared authoritatively as he slipped a large pistol into the vest's holster.
“Father, I must say—” Octavia started before her father interrupted.
"Whatever it is, the answer is no," Marecone said resolutely. "This is why I sent you away. It is too dangerous."
"You seem to have forgotten how good of a shot I am," Octavia said with a flat look.
"Wait, this is why you're a crack shot at the shooting range?" Vinyl asked in surprise.
"Yes, Vinyl, it is," Octavia replied with a smile.
"Regardless, my decision still stands," Marecone said firmly giving his daughter a hard look which his daughter returned with equal fervor.
Vinyl was about to voice her opinion, but was interrupted by a series of gun shots from the front of the factory.
"Sir, we need to move into position," Sterling said as she loaded a pair of shock shells into her shotgun and slipped a bandolier across her chest.3
Marecone sighed and looked to his daughter. "After this is over, never again."
"Understood, father," Octavia replied with a smile. "I don't supposed you still have my old typewriter around here?"
"As if could bring myself to dispose it," Marecone said with a wide smile as he pulled an ebony cello case out of the wardrobe and set it on top of the desk.
Vinyl leaned in to get a good look, while Octavia flicked the brass clasps open and revealed a full size Buck Thompson sub-machine gun with a rosewood stock, drum magazine, and simple, yet elegant, engraving along the stock and receiver.
"I'm glad you kept it such good condition, father," Octavia said as she quickly checked the gun and drum magazine, then slapped the drum into place and racked the hammer back with a satisfied smile. It was at this point that Vinyl noticed the words "Abandon all hope, ye who are on the receiving end" engraved into the front of the drum magazine.
"Miss Scratch, you'll need these," Sterling said pulling Vinyl's attention from her marefriend's gun toting hotness as she opened a briefcase-sized wooden box in front of her.
"Oooh, pretty," Vinyl almost cooed as she beheld a pair of polished silver Colt 45 pistols with white oak grips.
"Well, my dear daughter, shall we show them the sort of steel we're made of?" Marecone asked with a smile like a shark's.
"Of course, father," Octavia replied with a wide smile of her own. "Vinyl?"
"I'm with you all the way, Tavi," Vinyl answered holding the matching pistols in her magic's grip.
----
----
4
Five hours later, the Cellist and the DJ were on a train headed to Trottingham. Both of them looked far worse than they felt. Octavia's mane looking positively disheveled, while Vinyl's mane was a frazzled mess with a couple singed hairs on one side and both of their coats had fine coating of dirt.
"That was awesome," Vinyl said as Octavia stayed slumped against her on the foldout bed in their train compartment.
"It was nearly a disaster," Octavia replied, but kept her eyes closed. "We nearly had to fight past the Guard, we both stink of gunpowder, and we have to figure out how to get that three thousand bit check deposited as soon as possible."
"Yeah, but you and your dad are on good terms now, right?" Vinyl asked nudging her marefriend.
Octavia opened her eyes with a sigh and smiled. "You do have a point there, Vinyl."
"Plus your dad totally approved of me," Vinyl said with a grin.
"Again, you have a point," Octavia conceded before kissing Vinyl's cheek. "Your daring does give you a certain charm."
"Plus, he let me keep these guns!" Vinyl said excitedly as she held up the matching pistols in her magic.
"DAMN IT VINYL!"
END
Author's Note
Parlance as in a method of speaking that carries specific implications. Casual dress = No weapons
Marecone as a reference to the mob boss Gentleman John Marcone from the Dresden Files. It is a reference to a series I love not a sign of a crossover.
Shock shells are pretty much what they sound like. Instead of a lead bullet the round itself is a shard of lighting, inside a globule of hardened gel, that can disable all but the strongest opponent in combat. They are used instead of lead rounds because they're less likely to be lethal and lead to fewer intrusions from the authorities.
I can't write fight scenes for crap, so I didn't even bother with it. Relax it would've been filler at best.
Comments are appreciated.
