Of Wubs and Strings.
Wub; Noun. An extended wobble bassnote, characteristic of dubstep music, which is manipulated rhythmically to create an oscillating sound.
Wub; Verb. A childish mispronunciation of love.
Strings, Stringed Instrument; Noun. An instrument, usually of classical origin with strings along the body, such as a cello, or violin.
Strings, "tugging at your heartstrings."; Verb. To tug at one's heartstrings; Feeling strong loveor sympathyfor one.
Chapter 1: Crescendo
The music was so beautiful. It was expressed through every fiber of her being; the soft, sweet sounding melody echoed through the entire stadium. Each note had been practiced and perfected over years and years for this very moment, and oh, how she embraced it. Eyes tightly squeezed shut, and needing not of a music sheet. She had the song permanently stitched in her mind; having played it every day since she was a filly. In front was a crowd of hundreds; but there was only one voice to be heard, as all others were quiet.
"Go, Tavi! Woo!"
Octavia fringed her brow, continuing to play, but she felt herself knocked down a peg, her face now flushed red with embarrassment. Not only did Vinyl yell out during her moment, but she called her that...ruffian name, 'Tavi'...how uncultured and malmannered could that mare possibly be? She could practically feel the eyes on her now. The high class and sophisticated mares and gentlecolts of Canterlot, those judgemental eyes, watching her every movement and every slip of the bow. 'Tavi', they knew who that was. At least, in Octavia's mind they did. They knew she had invited her rowdy, loud, and unfitting roommate to such an event, and that would be a penalty...just...please don't do that again...
"Awww yeah! That's my best friend up there!"
The bow emitted a loud screech on the strings as she craned her neck to glare at the mare in the front row.
"I swear to Celestia, Scratch!" The cellist hissed, narrowing her eyes with a menacing scowl. "I did not invite you here for...this!" She tilted her head upwards, taking a sharp inhale. "You've ruined everything!" Tears nagged at her eyes, but she knew at this point, she failed. It was over. She closed her eyes tightly.
"Hey," A soft voice asked. "wake up...you're talking in your sleep again." Octavia opened her eyes again, but to darkness, and a pain in the back of her head. She still felt the tears in her eyes and groaned loudly, not even acknowledging the voice. She knew who it was; Vinyl Scratch, her Disk-Jockey roommate. It had only been weeks since they moved in together, and she didn't know much about her except that she was a nuisance. Then she heard the noises. A steady rattling, high-pitched sound. Her eyes adjusted a bit, and she saw Vinyl standing above her, headphones around her neck, and a crooked grin on her face.
"Why in Equestria are you still up? Go to bed." She said harshly, earning an amused chuckle from the other mare.
"It's only 10:00. Only snoots go to bed before that." Vinyl said calmly, turning around to get back in her bed. Octavia huffed, still riled up from her dream.
"Well, you could at least have the manners to turn your music down...ugh! I swear, I'm even having dreams of you being so disrespectful." Octavia closed her eyes again, rolling over and pulling the blanket over herself, her back facing Vinyl. The other mare chuckled.
"Dreams? Damn, Tavi...at least I made an impact, huh? So unforgettable~" She rolled her eyes playfully.
"If that's what you call it, I suppose so." She sleepily agreed, nodding her head softly as she began falling back asleep. "Mmmhhhmm..."
Vinyl sighed softly, sitting on her own bed and turning around before removing her shades. Maybe it was a good idea to get some sleep. A quiet yawn answered her thought and she laid down. After all, she could be more productive the next day.
The next morning, Octavia was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, and Vinyl smelled the delicious omelets. She sniffed softly, it was motivating her out of the bed, which few things could. She groggily trotted out to the kitchen, brewing a cup of coffee. Octavia wrinkled her nose. The very smell of coffee beans made her nauseous. Vinyl sleepily yawned and adjusted her shades. "Mornin' Tavi."
Octavia cringed even more. "Good morning, Scratch." She responded hesitantly, pouring her tea into a small mug.
By now, Vinyl was half used to her grumpiness. She was, however, unaware that it was from her doing. "Got anything planned today?"
Octavia was far above small talk, but went along to not be rude. "Hmm...Just practice, most likely." She took a sip of the tea, having not added any sugar or cream, instead a splash of honey. "How about you?"
"I gotta' gig tonight." The other mare responded proudly, shoveling enough sugar into her coffee to make Octavia feel dizzy.
"Splendid..." Octavia said with little enthusiasm. The two fell in silence for a bit as they ate breakfast.
"So, I gotta' surprise for ya!" Vinyl said after she finished. Before the other could respond, Vinyl interrupted. "Y'know how the dishwasher has been busted? Well, I fixed it! That's mainly why I was still up last night." Octavia looked up from her tea in shock.
"You...really did fix it? Why, thank you." She smiled a bit. Maybe having Vinyl as a roommate wouldn't be so bad. Seemingly ignoring Octavia's appreciation, she continued on.
"I fit two eight-inch subwoofers in there, and spent a while trying to waterproof it. I finally got it! Wanna see?" She asked excitedly. Octavia hadn't understood a word she said, but agreed with a nod. The DJ happily jumped up and put their dishes into the washer, messing around with something that Octavia couldn't see inside it.
"Drop it!" She declared, closing it and pressing start with one swift motion. The whole kitchen started rattling with pure bass. "When you can't feel your hooves, that's when you know it's loud enough to clean them!"
Octavia stared with disbelief before moving out of the line of bass, allowing her heart to beat on its own now. "Scratch, this is absolutely unacceptable! Remove those sub-whatevers out of my washer this instant!" She demanded, fixing her bowtie and running a hoof over her mane.
"Aww, c'monnnn! Just wait until you see the dishes!" Vinyl opened the washer, pulling out a spotless, albeit partially cracked plate. "Oops...maybe it was too high this time..." She scratched her chin while studying it.
Octavia was fuming now. "You've ruined my dishwasher and broken my plates!"
"Well, technically it was already broken. And they're clean now, right?" She said calmly with a warm smile.
Ugh...she was so infuriating...so calm all the time! And always so happy! Even when she knew she did wrong! Octavia groaned and narrowed her eyes. "You'd better take it back apart!"
"Well, that's kinda not gonna work. I already cut out some stuff, so it's either this or nothing..." Vinyl lowered her head with a nervous chuckle.
"Did it not cross your mind once to consult me about this?!" She asked, still raging. The bill to replace it would be far more than she could afford...
Vinyl changed the topic quickly, partially ignoring her question. "Uh...Don't use the garbage disposal."
The cellist tossed her head back and brought a hoof to her face, clearly even more displeased. "How many more appliances of mine have you ruined?!"
Once again ignoring her, Vinyl stepped out into the living room. "Look, I gotta go, Tavi. I told Neon that I'd help him with a new mix, later!"
Allegrezza
Chapter 2: Allegrezza
After an evening of quiet reading, Octavia sighed softly to herself. She had a cup of warm tea and was relaxing in the living room. Things were perfect. Too perfect.
Where's Vinyl?
She looked up at the clock that read 11 o'clock. This was later than Octavia normally stayed up, and she was expectant of her roommate being home hours ago. She found herself worried, but wasn't sure why. Why should she care in the first place? Vinyl works at a nightclub for Celestia's sake; of course she'd come home late. She thought that was good enough reasoning to go to bed, and did as her mind urged her to. She walked across the creaky floor that had driven her insane since she moved in. She remembered the gorgeous spiraled stairs she used to have that led to her large room, how the window lined perfectly with where the sun rose every morning and illuminated her room. She recalled how high the ceilings were, and the huge dining room and kitchen, and how clean it had always been kept by the help. How tasteful the décor was, the soft carpet under her hooves. There was not a single creak anywhere, and the house was kept up with regularly.
As that thought came to mind, she also remembered something else. How Mother and Father made her practice every day, how she was forbidden from eating sweets, how the tutors that came over daily were so rude and forced her to learn things exactly the way they wanted. She remembered how lonely it was. Her mother bragging about her being a musical prodigy over the phone, later yelling at her for not trying hard enough. "Standard. Do it again." She would always say, making her repeat the song until her hooves hurt. She was eventually molded into a robot, only following the rules and doing what others told her. Never anything she wanted.
Octavia found herself standing in the middle of the hall for far too long and tore herself from the memories, continuing into the shared room. One bed on the far right, one on the far left. She hated that this old, shabby house didn't even have two rooms. Yet, she was lucky to afford it at all, barely able to keep up her half of the rent. She sat on her bed and pulled the covers over herself. She stared at the wall for what seemed like forever. She couldn't sleep. She picked up her phone, which she rarely used beyond work purposes. She still had Vinyl's contact in it. She just studied the picture absentmindedly while thinking. She just needed to talk to somepony, to keep her very sanity. She didn't know why she felt so terrible. Maybe it was a realization. She thought it was pathetic to call her, but she ran a check through her other contacts and found nopony else whom she was actually on speaking terms with. With a sigh, she pressed call.
It rang for a few moments before her eardrums were blasted with loud music. She winced and held it away from her ear. "V-Vinyl? Are you there?" She asked quietly, starting to regret her decision. Her question was answered by a few giggles in the background, followed by a familiar, rough voice.
"Yeah, yeah..." Vinyl said, followed by some shuffling. "Hello?" Octavia smiled softly, then frowned again when she realized she hadn't actually planned out what she was going to say. After all, you couldn't just start a conversation so easily. She stayed quiet for a few moments before deciding on what to say.
"Hello, Vinyl," She started. "I was just wondering when you were coming home." That was far from the reason why she called, but as she considered this, she couldn't think of the real reason.
"Oh, hey Tavi! Uh, I dunno...it looks like this party's gonna stay alive until at least 8AM! Can you hear this madness?!" There were several ponies yelling things Octavia couldn't understand.
"Wait, are you serious?! You're staying that long?!" She asked, shocked.
"Probably not that long, chill." Octavia could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "I got some time to talk if you wanna. What's up?"
She perked up at that, getting excited. "Splendid! Perhaps we can-" She was interrupted by a loud sound on the other end.
"Oh crap...Look, Tavi, I actually gotta go, OK? Later!" With that, the phone hung up. Octavia's smile fell and she curled up with her pillow. The steady beeping of the phone remained for several seconds until she hung up also. Something about hearing Vinyl's voice made her feel better, maybe it was because she never had a friend she could call. Maybe it was time to open up...this was an opportunity. Vinyl could be her friend. Her first friend.
