Like a Magnet.
Written by Jlargent.
It was a dark and rainy night as the old cliche goes, the rain soaked streets of Canterlot were empty save for those trying to seek shelter from the downpour of an unscheduled rainstorm to hit the capital of Equestria. And on this night two ponies who met under wet circumstances found their lives changed for the better...
Vinyl's POV...
"Dammit." I curse to myself standing underneath an awning as the rain was coming down, and not for the first time I wished that I could buck the weather manager for screwing up my night. Then again the day hasn't been that nice to me either, when I woke up this afternoon from a hangover prompted by a night of heavy drinking and I missed an important meeting with a possible record producer by the name of Svengallop, so I headed to my favorite restaurant but it was replaced by a cardboard cutout version that was catering to Zesty Gourmand who is in my opinion slowly killing the taste of Canterlot's taste buds with her haughty standards, and to top it all off when I made it to the club for my nightly gig there were problems with the electronics making the sound fluctuate between near silence to eardrum rupturing screeching sound. It seems almost fitting that a rainy night would cap off the night, I sigh wishing that I had stayed in the club until the rain lessened.
My ears perk up a little as I could barely hear the sound of someone running, the echoes of her hoof steps indicates that someone was heading in my direction but the sounds of the rain hitting the ground and the sheer amount of rainfall makes it hard to see who was coming. I sigh to myself wishing that the rain would let up long enough so I could return to my hotel room.
Octavia's POV...
The downpour of the rain was excessive so much so that it looked like I was walking through a veritable curtain of rainfall obscuring my vision, and the day had started out so well, I woke up rather early and had a wonderful breakfast and arrived at the Canterlot Royal Orchestra with plenty of time to spare and I had lunch with my friends at a restaurant that Harpo highly recommended to me a week before before returning to the CRO to practice until late into the evening, when I exited I could hear the telltale signs of oncoming rain. I frowned at the sight and decided to risk running home to avoid the potential rain but when I was about three blocks away from my previous location did the rain start to fall in earnest turning quickly into a deluge that could easily flood a valley if given a chance, through the heavy rain I could scarcely see an awning up ahead Any protection is better than none I suppose. I thought as I headed towards the improvised shelter, it seemed that I wasn’t alone standing underneath was a white unicorn mare with two toned blue main and tail drooping from the rain.
She looked annoyed at the downpour. Being in an orchestra can teach you the mood of the ponies in the audience from the way they hold themselves, the mare that was under the awning looked like she has had a rough day and wanted nothing more than to return home and forget it. I cannot say that I blame her, I don’t think there’s a pony alive that has had those days save for the Princesses, I decided that maybe she would be better off without any company annoying her so I look around for another shelter from the rain, my vision was slightly obscured by a light magenta aura and I was levitated to the awning where the mare deactivated her magic.
“Why did you do that?” I was surprised at her kindness.
“To be honest I’ve had a really crappy day but I wasn’t going to let someone else suffer because of it.” she replied.
I nodded “Thank you. My name is Octavia Melody.” I introduced myself.
“Name’s Vinyl Scratch, or DJ PON-3 if you’re a fan of dubstep.” she replied Dubstep? What in Equestria is that? I thought to myself not having heard of the genre before “I’m a rather well known DJ.” she replied, I could tell that she was proud of that proclamation.
“If you don’t mind me asking why are you here?” I asked her to distract her from the potential boasting. I’ve heard enough of that when ‘The great and powerful Trixie’ visited Ponyville.
“It all started when I woke up later than I had intended. From there it went downhill, I missed an appointment with a potential manager, my favorite restaurant was given the Zesty Gourmand treatment, and my electronics was screwed up. This rain was the capping off to a lousy evening.” she explained.
“To be honest...I dislike Zesty Gourmand. She has incredibly high standards that only she would appreciate and personally I think that she’s ruining the taste-buds of Canterlot with her exceedingly extravagant tastes.” I said making Vinyl laugh.
“I was thinking exactly the same thing earlier! Glad to see some ponies in Canterlot has better tastes than she does.” Vinyl chuckled. I could not help but laugh at Vinyl’s comment “So what about you? What’s your gig?” she turned to me.
“I’m a cellist for the Orchestra.” I replied.
Vinyl snorted “Boooorrring!” she said.
“Excuse me! Did you just call my chosen profession ‘boring’?” I asked her offended.
“I’m saying that playing in the orchestra is boring. I mean I have a respect towards fellow musicians but they’re just limiting themselves to mediocrity.” she said. I thought for a moment about what she had said.True, I am rather restricted in terms of creativity but that does not give her the right to badmouth my livelihood.
“Miss Scratch I take offense to your words. What if someone called your ‘Dubstep’ utter garbage not fit for listening?” I counter. Hoping she would realize that she would face the same criticism that all performers face.
To my surprise Vinyl scoffed “So what? I mean everypony has some sort of gripe about something, I’ve had my work trash talked in the past and I flat out ignore it.” she replied in an nonchalant manner “I prefer to let my music prove them wrong about me.” she said “Actions speak louder than any word spoken. Weather you’re a pop idol or a princess you have to back up your words with those actions. That’s why I feel the Orchestra is boring. There’s no creativity, there’s no passion, you’re just sitting there playing the notes on the sheets like some kind of robot. That is why artists like myself make their bread and butter with their skills and creativity.” she said in a surprisingly profound moment.
There was literally nothing I could say to refute that remark. In a few sentences a Disc Jockey has managed to upend my views on music. I could see that Vinyl was passionate about her work like I am.
I take a deep breath “I’m sorry Miss Scratch. I did not realize how passionate you are about your profession. But you have to understand that you insulted my profession by calling it boring and I took offense to that.” I tell her.
Vinyl awkwardly smiled “Sorry about that Miss Melody, but I’ve been told numerous times that I’m as subtle as a sledgehammer when it comes to words, and I have a habit of shooting it off.” she apologized.
“Apology accepted Miss Scratch.” I replied.
“Please, call me Vinyl, whenever you call me ‘Miss Scratch’ I had to resist looking around for my mom.” she chuckled.
“I will do so if you call me Octavia.” I agreed “What does your mom do?” I could not help but ask.
“My mom Record Scratch used to own a music store back in Manehattan, she retired a few years ago and gave it to me.” she replied. My eyebrows shot up at that.
“Wait, What!? You’re the daughter of Record Scratch? She was the best cello performer of all time!” I gushed “She became my inspiration to play the Cello! No one knew why she suddenly quit making music and seemingly vanished from the face of Equestria.” I said.
“Well...you see, one night my mom had a bit too much to drink and woke up having a one night stand with a stallion that left before she could wake up. A few months later she quit her job and took her money to Manehattan and opened up her shop there.” she said.
“C-can I meet her sometime?” I stammered a bit. Understandably so since Vinyl’s mother is practically my hero.
Vinyl nodded “Sure, if you’re ever in Manehattan be sure to look us up.” she replied. I had to suppress the urge to squeal like a little filly at the possibility of meeting my idol.
I managed to calm down before replying “Thank you.” I notice that the rain was finally subsiding “It looks like the weather team has finally ran out of water to deluge us with.” I commented.
Vinyl nodded in agreement “Yeah, hey Octavia, want to come with me back to my hotel room? I mean I really enjoyed talking to you about music and all.” I thought for a moment before nodding “Great! My hotel isn’t that far from here, I was thinking we could grab a drink or two and continue our conversation.” she said.
The next morning: Vinyl’s POV.
Ohh, never take whisky shots ever again.” I moaned as the tell-tale signs of a hangover ravages my head. Times like these I wish I had a higher alcohol tolerance. I slowly sit up trying to bring the headache down to a more tolerable level, I felt a lump next to me, at that moment my mind froze Ohnonononononono... I thought panicking realizing that I had made the same mistake as mom. I reach up to the covered pony, I stop right before I pulled the blanket down hesitating as to the identity of my apparent one night stand. Mustering the courage, I grab the blanket and slowly pull it down, the first thing I saw was a charcoal black mane that was well groomed Okay, so I slept with somepony that keeps their mane intact. I thought pulling the rest of the covers down to reveal a grey coated ear Wait, it couldn’t be... I thought back to last night to my drinking partner and how we eventually found ourselves literally stumbling into my hotel room. I blushed deeply at the memory of what transpired after that.
That’s right, my one night stand was with Octavia Melody.
I would like to put on record (Ha! You see what I did there?) that I’ve not once had a one night stand. Tartarus below, I’ve never even thought about being attracted to another pony let alone having sex with them. But here I am lying next to another mare wishing I could remember fully what happened last night.
You know, she does look kinda cute sleeping like that. I thought to myself as I slowly slide out of the bed trying not to wake her up. But it seems that my luck wasn’t that good as Octavia moaned in pain from the hangover.
“What in Equestria...?” she mumbled. Then she noticed the situation “Oh.” she said “Well this is awkward.” she replied in a similar tone.
“You’re telling me.” I could not help but snark.
“Normally, I’m the one who does the flirting.” Octavia replied which throws me off.
"No offense, but you don't look the type to flirt." I reply.
"Well we did just meet last night, and our inhibitions were basically tossed aside when we raided the bar." Octavia pointed out "Not to mention as an Earth Pony we can handle our liquor, more so for me since I've dealt with situations that required a large amount of drinking." I could see where she was coming from "But admittedly, I'm not all that well used to harder liquor so it evens out." she finished.
I snorted "Filly, you were knocking them back well enough that I thought you've done this before." I said making her blush.
Octavia coughed lightly "Right, now about our 'activities' last night?" she inquired making me blush.
"I'm really, really sorry. I didn't expect this to ever happen, this is the first time I brought somepony to my hotel room while drunk." I apologized to the orchestral mare.
Octavia raised an eyebrow at my apology "I take it you wished to avoid what happened to your mother when a similar circumstance occurred?" she asked me.
"Yeah, don't get me wrong, maybe someday I'll be ready but..." I trailed off.
"I see. I cannot blame you for hesitating in that regard." Octavia admits "Look, I admit I don't remember what happened last night and from our reactions I bet that it would've been unforgettable if we were sober enough to have some memory of the event." she said.
"Agreed, I didn't realize that I had even liked mares." I said making Octavia raise her eyebrow again.
"Really? I've always been open minded about my sexuality. My grandmother told me that 'Love is a powerful thing. And it isn't strictly focused on a specific gender, weather you love a stallion, mare or even a griffon as long as you're happy I'll gladly support your choice in lover.' it's not that I haven't been attracted to anypony it's just that I've never really thought about it all that much." she tells me.
"So...about us..." I trailed off.
"I'm not saying I'd be adverse to trying this out, but only if you're willing to try as well." Octavia said. I stood there for a moment thinking about what she said. I mean sure she's nice but will this even work? She's a rich orchestral player while I scrape by and lack any real fanbase to say for a loyal group.
Can I really see myself in a relationship with another mare?
"Octavia, before I answer you can you tell me why? Why me of all ponies? I mean for Celestia's sake we're from two different worlds!" I exclaimed.
She shrugged "I feel attracted to you. Like there's a invisible force that is pulling me towards you." she explains.
"Huh, I never knew I had such a 'magnetic' personality." I joked and to my surprise she laughed at the pun.
Maybe this will work out after all.
The End.
Author's Note
Me: So here's my return to writing I was still writing this when my computer crapped out on me and I am glad to return to form. To all my fans old and new thank you for putting up with my problems, issues and delays, this makes writing this story all the more worthwhile. To be honest I've wanted to do a Vinyl/Octavia story for a long time but I really haven't figured out a good plot or an idea what I wanted but when I heard Magnet I immediately compared it to Romeo and Juliet to a degree and thus this was born.
I wanted to give Vinyl a bit of a interesting backstory and thus “Record Scratch” was born. I also wanted to give Vinyl a bit of a personality when it comes to her love of music, which she inherited from her mom. To be honest I was making this story on the fly but I really liked how it turned out. Here’s what Record looks like courtesy of Pony Creator.
I apologize for how the story turned out, I'm getting back into the swing of things. By the way I have a poll and it's on my latest blog post.
So please review and until next time Hoody Hoo!
