Vinyl looked around the mostly empty atrium of her parents' Canterlot mansion. “This place never changes,” she thought aloud. Statues stood beside the entrance behind her, and two large staircases led up to the second floor in front. Various doors were all around leading further in. The walls were adorned with high end paintings of the house's residents, and different bits of scenery. The sole exception to the priceless works of art was one spot at the top of the left set of steps, where a crudely drawn picture of the family done by Vinyl in her foalhood hung inside of a silver frame.
The clicks of hooves off to her right caught Vinyl's attention. “Ah, Lady Scratch, welcome home,” said an older, distinguished sounding stallion dressed in a fancy black suit.
“Yo, Jhooves. Up high.” Vinyl held up her hoof.
“As you wish, Lady Scratch.” Jhooves reached his hoof up and clapped it to hers.
“So, where's Mom and Dad at?”
“The Lord and Lady of the house are currently in the theater room. Shall I get them?”
Vinyl shook her head. “Nah, I'll get them myself. However, you could set me up a couple mixed drinks to go with dinner. Dark soda with gin or rum.”
The butler nodded and slipped away to see to the task. After the door shut behind him, Vinyl trotted up one of the staircases and went straight ahead through another door with a film reel design engraved on it. The room inside was completely dark except for the light beaming from a projector straight onto a tarp that hung on the back wall. A set of chairs were on either side of the projector. The movie itself appeared to be a basic romance, some knight promising himself to high class mare and all that jazz. Nothing that particularly interested Vinyl.
Vinyl lit up her horn, revealing two ponies sitting next to the projector. One was a distinguished appearing stallion with a short, combed back mane; the other a mare in a sparkling dress and her mane tied up in a bun. “Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.”
Both turned back to the door. “Princess!” said the stallion. He bolted up and trotted over to pull Vinyl into a tight hug.
“You're here early, deary,” said the mother as she stood beside Vinyl's father. She reached around to Vinyl's back and rubbed it, to add to the hug Vinyl was already getting.
Vinyl blushed from the display of affection but didn't fight against it or try to move away. “I just wanted to talk to you guys before Octavia got here.”
“Ah, yes, that new girlfriend of yours,” said her father as he finally released the hug. “Can't wait to meet this mare that you've become infatuated with. I'm sure we'll get along grand.” He gave her a brilliant smile. “So, what is it that you needed to say, Princess?”
“Well, er, I wanted to give you guys a heads up about my date. You see, she's a bit—” Vinyl's eyes turned away “—different.”
“Oh, sweetie, you know we won't care if she's not a unicorn,” said her mother.
“That's the thing.” Vinyl bit her bottom lip. “She's actually not a pony at all.”
There was a short moment of tense silence that would quickly shattered by her father's laughter. “It doesn't matter if she's a griffin, a zebra, or a draconequus. If she's good enough for you, then she's good enough for us.”
“Heh, yeah, guess I was worrying a bit too much.” Vinyl let out her own little laugh and rubbed the back of her neck. “I just didn't want you guys to be too shocked, you know? Last thing tonight needs to for staring and gawking.”
Her mother huffed. “Vinyl, a proper lady neither stares nor gawks. We will be on best behavior, I assure you.”
“I should have known I could depend on you gu—” The doorbell rang. “That must be her.” The trio exited the film room and descended the stairs. Jhooves was already at the door waiting for them. Vinyl took a deep breath. “Well, let her in.”
He pulled open the door, then leaped back when something crashed in. With a gargle and a sudden rip, Jhooves had lost his shirt’s sleeve, but thankfully not his leg itself. A shark thrashed about in the open doorway, the butler’s sleeve caught in its teeth. It was twice the size of any pony in the room, had beady eyes, and rows of razor sharp teeth. It also wore a black wig and a bowtie for reasons unknown.
Vinyl's parents stared in silence, then followed it up by gawking for a change of pace.
“Heh, heh,” Vinyl said, wiping a drop of sweat from her forehead. “She can be a bit grumpy when she's hungry.” She leaned in towards the creature. “Psst, ix-nay on the eating-ay of onies-pay.” She pulled away just as Octavia snapped at her, missing by a mere hair's length. Her parents were still staring, broken up by the occasional gawking. “Jhooves, take Sharktavia to the dining room.”
Jhooves blanched. “Must I, Lady Scratch?”
“Yes.”
A resigned sigh escaped his lips. “Very well.” He stood in front of Octavia, tempting it with his exposed leg; his old, non-tender stallion meat. She lunged forward, and he deftly dodge-rolled around to her side. With a quick movement he raised the shark onto his back. It wiggled about and snapped at the air, but didn't fall. “Right this way—er, Lady Octavia.” He carried her off to one of the doors to the right of the entrance. “Mind your head,” he said as he opened it and carefully got her through.
“So... Mom?” Vinyl scrunched her nose, and let out a little snort. “Ladies don't stare nor gawk, huh?”
“My apologies, Vinyl Scratch. I just didn't expect her to be a...”
“A carnivore,” said her father when his wife didn’t finish. “Let's go with carnivore.”
“Yes,” her mother said. “A carnivore. I wasn't expecting you to bring home a carnivore.”
“Ugh.” Vinyl rubbed the bridge of her nuzzle. “She's a shark, okay. You don't have to dance around it.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Vinyl, darling?” Vinyl's mom stepped forward and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Is this just for the sake of being with someone after that little break up you had? I know how much you loved making music with her, even if your styles were different. Maybe you need more time to collect your thoughts before jumping into another relationship.”
“Yes, me and her had a rough break up, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still a bit upset about it. But! I accepted that me and Symphony just didn't work, and I've moved on. I really want this to work with Octavia.” Using her magic Vinyl pulled off her glasses and looked into her mother's eyes. “I need you guys to trust me on this. I know what I'm doing. And please, just give her a chance.”
“Well, Princess, if this is what you really want, then I won't doubt you.” Her father nuzzled her. “I believe in you.”
“I shall try my best, for your sake,” said her mother.
“Thanks. Seriously, I mean that. You're being cooler about this than most parents would be.”
Jhooves stepped back into the atrium and cleared his throat. “I do so hate to break up this touching moment, but I do believe you all should come see this.”
“Did she bite through another the table leg?” asked Vinyl.
“Well,” Jhooves said slowly, “yes, but that's not the issue.” He turned and led them into the dining room. There, at the end of the long, now three-legged table, was Octavia. She wasn't thrashing. She wasn't biting. She wasn't anything.
“...huh,” remarked a stunned Vinyl, not able to come up with much else to say. “That—huh.”
“I fear that the Lady Sharktavia has passed away,” Jhooves said.
Vinyl's father leaned over to him and whispered, “Have you tried poking her?”
Jhooves gave a single nod. “Yes, sir.”
“Was it a vigorous poking?”
“Of course, sir,” the butler said with another nod. “I poked her most vigorously indeed, sir.”
“And she didn't respond?” Vinyl's father asked.
“Not so much as a single snap,” Jhooves replied.
“Yep, that's one dead shark,” said Vinyl's father.
“She must have gone too long without water,” said Vinyl's mother. “There is one part of this that I don't get though. How did she even make it this far if she couldn’t breathe?”
“You know, Mom, that's a good question.”
A heavy silence weighed Vinyl down as the seconds ticked by. She tried to find the right words to say, but her brain wasn’t coming up with an answer. "So... about the, um..."
"Body?" asked her mother. "I know some griffin traders in town that would enjoy shark meat. Jhooves, be a dear and fetch some ice. A lot of it."
"Right. Good. I'll, um, leave that up to you guys then." Vinyl quickly spun towards the door out of the dining room.
“Dear, where are you going?” asked her mother.
"To see if I can hash things out with Symphony." She left.
