Taming Strange. Or: How I learned to stop worrying and make love in public

Octavia's mind roared into consciousness through a fog of agony. Her head throbbed, her throat burned, her eyes were stuck shut. She tried to move but she was stuck bodily to the sheets. She forced her eyes open and peeled herself from the bed, sliding onto the floor. All four of her legs screamed with soreness. She couldn't stand fully. She dragged herself half blind to the bathroom and held her face under the sink, drinking greedily.

She let the water run over her mouth and face until the burn in her throat subsided and she collapsed against the sink. Slowly her mind swam into focus, and the events of the night slowly returned to her. The soreness she felt suddenly took on an endearing quality. Finally she stood up and limped back into her bedroom. "Sorry love I was just~" She stopped when she noticed that her reconciled lover wasn't in the bed.

Octavia stared at the empty bed, her mind reeling. That's just not possible. Not after last night. Not after what Vinyl had said while they made love. Was it all a trick? Had she still been mad and just used last night as some cruel joke? Have some fun with her then disappear? She remembered the posters. "PON-3'S FAREWELL SHOW." Had she done something foalish?

Octavia couldn't run both from shock and soreness. She walked slowly in a daze out of her dorm, staring straight ahead lost in thought. She was pulled from her stupor by an unfamiliar smell, cigarette smoke. She turned slowly to see the early afternoon sunlight shining off of a snow white coat. Vinyl's electric blue mane blazed brilliantly in the blinding glow.

Octavia was dumbstruck for a few moments with the vision. It was the first time she'd seen her lover in direct sunlight. Combined with the flood of endorphins from last night, Vinyl was the single most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She hadn't run off. She'd waited. She was here. She was her's. Octavia couldn't contain herself anymore and shouted her lover's name as she tackled her.

Vinyl groaned at her aching muscles as she levitated both of them onto their hooves and gave Octavia the smallest peck on the lips. "Hey babe. You're up. Hurry 'n shower I'm hungry." She lit another cigarette. Not exactly the welcome Octavia was expecting.

She stepped awkwardly away a few steps before brightening. "Won't you join me?" She said in her most seductive voice.

Vinyl exhaled a puff of smoke as she said. "Already did." In her flattest voice.

"Oh." Octavia said slightly deflated. She raised a hoof to ask if Vinyl was alright but decided against it. She showered quickly and the warm watered soothed her aching everything wonderfully. She rejoined her lover outside, Vinyl hadn't moved from her spot. The only evidence that any time had passed was the pile of cigarette butts on the curb.

"So love where to?" Octavia chirped. Vinyl didn't answer merely nodding her head to the side. The walked away slowly and the cellist followed alongside. "Um love?" She said shyly presenting a hoof. Vinyl took the proffered hoof, but still her face was sullen and contemplative. They walked in silence all the way to the Cliff Face Cafe on the western balcony of Canterlot.

Vinyl finally spoke just enough to order coffee and Octavia had an Earl Neigh tea. They sat at a table right on the balcony overlooking the vast plains of Equestria. "It's a lovely view." Octavia said trying to get a conversation started, to no avail. Vinyl just grunted in agreement as she stared at a point on the horizon, her head lazily propped against a hoof.

There they sat, for an hour or more. Octavia would sip her tea in silence, and Vinyl would smoke cigarette after cigarette. Every time she would extinguish one she would look at Octavia like she was going to say something, but then looked like she thought better of it and just lit another cigarette. Octavia drank glass after glass of tea, but Vinyl's coffee was long since cold.

It was agonizing to Octavia. They'd just been reconciled hadn't they? They were supposed to be living happily ever after right. Yet here they were sitting in uncomfortable silence. She desperately wanted to know what was on her lover's mind, but it seemed inappropriate to pry, as if Vinyl had to find her way to broaching the subject. All she could do was sit in silence, sip her tea, and stare helplessly at the pony she loved.

Vinyl finally said something as if talking to herself. She still stared out at the horizon so Octavia had to listen hard to pick up what she was saying over the mountain breeze. "Just her 'n me in our shitty little house. Just the two of us where nopony knows our name." She rested her head on the balcony as she spoke. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

Octavia finally realized that Vinyl hadn't been looking out over the expanse. She was looking at a specific point on the horizon. She followed her lover's gaze and identified the small village of Ponyville. "What in Ponyville?" Vinyl automatically responded with a grunt.

"Yes that'd be lovely. That's where father gets his cider. I already know a few ponies there so finding a house wouldn't be difficult at all."

Vinyl's head popped off the railing. "Wait what?"

"Yes and the cost of land is so cheap down there that we could probably just build our own." Octavia said more to herself.

Vinyl shook her head to clear her mind. This was moving way too fast. Living in the little village on the horizon with her classy bitch was a pipe dream. Octavia was making sound entirely feasible. "Babe wait we can't."

Octavia didn't hear. She was genuinely excited at the prospect now. "You just did a farewell show so you're free, and I could just quit the Fillyharmonic and the conservatory."

Vinyl grew genuinely anxious. "BA-HABE! You- you can't just-"

Octavia simply went on unhearing "And I've already been paid for my first month at the Fillyharmonic, and you said you've got some bits saved up from your contract so."

"BABE! YOU CAN'T JUST QUIT YOUR LIFE! CELESTIA DAMNIT!" Vinyl rose and shouted, spilling her cold coffee. She walked a few paces away and sighed heavily. "Babe you can't just drop everything for a pony you barely even know! I know next to nothing about you and you don't know shit about me."

Octavia was overjoyed that Vinyl was talking again. "You did. You just quit your job at Mad Mares for me did you not?"

"I didn't do it for you." Vinyl sighed heavily. "You were right. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I needed something besides the party. I can't live like that anymore." She was lifted bodily off of her hooves as Octavia dipped her low and kissed her deeply. Vinyl saw tears running down her lover's face but the mouth against her's was kissing her through a smile. Vinyl struggled to break away. "But- but babe I said I DIDN'T do it for you."

Octavia wiped the tears from her face. "I know love, but I wanted you to live for something. I'm so happy Vinyl." She kissed her again more gently this time, still kissing through a smile. "And we've got time love. We've got time to get to know each other. I'd love to get to know you." She looked away and blushed slightly. "Verbally I mean."

Vinyl's horn arced slightly at the unexpected innuendo. "No! None of that. My pussy's still on fire thanks to you. You go first. Who the fuck are you then?"

Octavia chuckled at the effect she had over her mare. "Well I was born in Mareseilles in Prançe. My father is Sir.-"

Vinyl coughed hard at the title. "Sir! Your father's a sir?" OH for FUCK'S SAKE Babe! Are you like royalty or some shit? Are you like arranged marriaged or some such bullshit? Cause I'll kick his ass, I don't give a fuck who it is."

Octavia chuckled. "No love knighthoods don't work like that. My father was knighted for service to the princess, I can't remember quite what for, but it's not a hereditary title. I'm not royalty."

Vinyl signaled for some more coffee as she didn't feel the need for cigarettes with the improved mood. "Well you're a princess to me."

Octavia blushed at the complement. "Oh Vinyl you really are too sweet." The two spent the next hour in a golden haze. This is exactly what Octavia wanted. Just to talk to the mare she loved. She spoke about her childhood, her summers at her grandmother's estate in Maresailles. She talked about her family, and her private tutors. She talked about how music had shaped her life and how she'd gotten her cutie mark the second she picked up her very first one quarter cello as a filly.

Vinyl laughed raucously at the story of Octavia getting her job at the Fillyharmonic. "Wait so you just strutted the fuck in and said 'BITCH GIMME A JOB?'"

Octavia chuckled at the thought. "No no no. I just exhibited my musical prowess, and Lord Fortissimo offered me a job."

"Yeah sure, let's call it that babe." She leaned back in her seat and sipped her coffee.

Octavia smiled as the history had now reached the best part. "And then I met a beautiful mare. And I fell in love. And it's been the most wonderful time of my life."

Vinyl's face grew beet red as she looked away pouting. "dondodat." She muttered.

Octavia donned a mischievous grin, and she rested her head on a hoof. "Ne fais pas quoi?"

"DON'T YOU FUCKIN START!" Vinyl snapped, face glowing red.

Octavia laughed hard at her lover's embarrassment. She wiped a tear from her eye and got her breath back. "Well now that you've heard my history, I'd love to hear your's. Tell me, who are you Vinyl Scratch?"

The unicorn's face resumed its normal hue. She sat back in her chair and sighed deeply. She resumed her vigil of the small dot of light on the horizon. They sat in silence for several moments. Vinyl's magic started to levitate a cigarette out of the mostly empty pack, but a grey hoof stopped it. "Vinyl please don't."

Vinyl looked sadly at Octavia. "Please love, don't shut me out. I'd like to get to know you. I love you." She pulled Vinyl's hoof to her lips and kissed it. "You're the finest musician in Equestria, and the sweetest little pony I know." She tugged at Vinyl's cheek. "Nothing you can say will change that." She held Vinyl's hoof tight. "Please?"

Vinyl took a deep breath and Octavia heard her holding back tears as she did so. "My name is Vinyl Scratch. I was born in Manehattan, I'm not actually certain when." Octavia's eyes went wide. How does a pony not even know how old they are. Two sentences in and already shocked. We're off to a great start.

"My mom always acted like I was a mistake. Like everything wrong in her life was my fault. That's the one thing I remember about her is she was always, Always, ALWAYS mad. She'd just spend all day every day bitching. We'd move from place to place and she'd get shitty coltfriend after shitty coltfriend." A tear trailed slowly down Vinyl's muzzle.

"I'd always hide in my room listening to my music as loud as it would go, and when I wasn't in my room I would always act like a scared dog around her. As I got older I'd just spend less and less time at home. If she was up I'd be out. I'd just wander the streets at night, and if I came home and I heard she was still up, I'd just turn right around and go back out."

"But then." A sad grin split her face. "I snuck into my first club. I hid in the back Hall for the first bit just jammin out to the music, but I couldn't resist. I looked at the dancing ponies and you know what I saw? Everypony was happy. How? How could two hundred ponies be that happy all at once? I looked and saw the DJ. She was making music that made ponies happy. I was hypnotized, I had to know how somepony could do that."

"I just walked straight up to her and asked how it worked. She thought I was somepony's little sister or somethin so she let me in the booth with her. Better 'n bein on the dance floor anyhow. She showed me how all the buttons n turntable worked as she played her set."

"Well something just didn't feel right ya know? Like it just needed a little extra somethin. I started making suggestions like level out your treble and speed up the beat. Son of a bitch if she didn't let me take over. She was cool." Vinyl sat for a moment smiling sadly at the memory.

"Well I'd never even seen a turntable before but it just felt so right. Like this is where I was meant to be! Instantly I knew what I was doing and the crowd ate it up." Vinyl's voice rose with excitement. "The fuckin DJ held my ass up and the whole crowd went nuts. Everypony was like Aaah." She giggled as she made the sound effects. Octavia was glad to see the joy in her lover's face at the memory.

"But that was It ya know." Vinyl's ears drooped. "That was the first time I ever made anypony actually happy. It felt great. It was the happiest I'd ever been." The tears flowed freely as she spoke. "A whole sea of smiling faces all cheering because of somethin I did."

"N the DJ was like 'let's hear it for the DJ pony!' N that's how I got the name. I changed the Y to a three cause I'm a cool kid." Vinyl rolled her eyes.

"Yes I've been meaning to ask about that. If you say the three doesn't it ruin the joke of spelling it PON-3 instead of PON-E?" Octavia asked.

Vinyl facehoofed. "Yes babe. That's the joke. It's ironic." She inhaled sharply and continued. "Anyway, after that I never went back." Octavia's eyes grew wide again. She couldn't seriously mean. " I changed my mane style to look older, 'n just hung out at clubs doing anything I could. I'd bar back, I'd sub a DJ, I'd work sound tech. Anything I could get my hooves on."

"I'd spend the night with anypony I could." She grinned again. "Then I'd raid their fridge on the way out. And it's been great. Somehow I met Neon and it's just been me n him ever since." Vinyl stopped when she noticed Octavia silently sobbing. She came around the table and put a foreleg around her mare. "Babe what's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry Vinyl. I had the gall to criticize you after everything you've been through." She wrapped her forelegs around Vinyl. "I'm so sorry."

Vinyl lifted Octavia's head up to look her in the eyes. "Is cool babe." She gave Octavia a small kiss, then held her close. "Yeah that's why I got so pissed when you were talkin shit." She sighed heavily. "But that's just it. It pissed me off cause you were right. All that time I wasn't livin. I was just ignorin the bad shit. I didn't care, 'n well." She kissed her mare's head. "You made me care. . . . Bitch."

Octavia could help but laugh and the two sat there laughing in each other's hooves. Octavia looked to the small village of Ponyville in the waning light of the early evening. "Love?" Vinyl grunted in acknowledgement. "We're you serious about living in Ponyville?"

Vinyl disconnected gently and sighed. "Nah babe." She sighed again. "Just a stupid thought."

"No love!" Octavia took Vinyl's hooves in her own. "Don't say that. It sounds wonderful! Just the two of us in our own little home. Ponyville's a lovely little village."

"But babe you can't just quit school. Not,-" Vinyl shook her head and sighed. "Not for me. N what about your job? You work for the princess don't ya?"

"The Royal Canterlot Fillyharmonic is owned by the princess but I don't work directly for her. I work for Lord Arpeggio Fortissimo. And I only work there to pay for the conservatory."

Vinyl's eyebrow raised high on her head. "You work for the princess to pay to go to music school?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Hello father when did you get here." Her eyes went wide. "Apropos Love, umm there's somepony I want you to meet."

Vinyl was slightly worried. She asked jokingly. "Should I be scared?"

Octavia thought for a second. "A bit yes. Come on I'll explain on the way."

"Wait babe where the fuck we goin?" Vinyl said being all but dragged along by her lover.

"Well I have to quit work and school, then we have to catch the train." She thought angrily to herself. "I am not bloody walking all that way again."

Vinyl stopped. "Babe I said don't fuckin do that!" She stomped a hoof and looked away.

Octavia stepped back to her taking her in her forelegs. She kissed Vinyl solemnly. "But I just met the single greatest musician in Equestria. Why would I want to go back? You're all I want now love, just you and me and that little house in Ponyville."

Vinyl melted into her lover's embrace. They stood there wrapped in each other's forelegs, the whole world around then forgotten. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her muzzle. "Well then.-" She put the sunglasses down on her face. "Bae gets what bae wants." They started off at a gallop but Vinyl stopped hard again.

"BABE WAIT! We have to stop by the club!" She started off towards her work place. Octavia was confused but followed. They arrived and Vinyl bucked in the door. "AY ROY! WE'RE GOIN TO PRANÇE! MOVE YOUR ASS!" There was an audible whooping sound from within and the wall of the club exploded outward in a royal blue haze.

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "Love I never said we were going to Prançe."

Royal Blue was crest fallen. Vinyl looked confused. "What? But you said you were born in Prançe!"

"Yes I was born in Prançe but I was raised just outside of Canterlot, it's just an uncomfortably long walk." She felt the soreness of her legs as she spoke.

Vinyl shrugged her shoulders. "Well I said I'd get him a week in Prançe and I meant it." She tilted her head. "Common bitch!"

Roy crushed both of them in a foreleg as he shouted, "ALLONS Y!"

The three stopped by the Fillyharmonic first. Octavia signaled for the two to wait outside. She slowly entered Lord Arpeggio Fortissimo's large office knocking at the open door with her hoof. He roared with joy at seeing her. "AH THERRRRE'S MY LITTLE IMPRRROVISATORRRI! My dear you did simply wonderful! And I've got some exciting news." He pulled an official looking scroll from a stack of papers. "The prrrrincess herrrself has perrrsonally invited you to play at the GRRRRAND GALLOPING GALA!"

Octavia put a hoof to her mouth. "My word! I'm honored."

"SPLENDID!" He shouted as he scribbled something onto the scroll then cast a spell on it. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. "It's on its way! Now I just need to assign a tubist, a pianist, and a harpist!"

Octavia wondered in the back of her mind. "Who would ever put those sounds together and why?" But she merely said. "I happen to know the very best of each, and I can personally vouch for their merit."

"MARRRVELOUS! He took another scroll, and presented it to her. She wrote the names Deep Tones, Ivory Keys, and Harpo on it. He cast the spell again and the message was on its way. "Splendid simply splendid! Now what can I do for you mio caro?"

"Well my Lord I should like to resign from your fine orchestra."

Lord Arpeggio Fortissimo's smile didn't falter, but his face changed from it's normal pale green, to paper white, to red, to purple. He began to shake. "Excuse me? You want to what?" Vinyl could hear his teeth grinding all the way from in the hall. He inhaled to let loose a torrent of abuse but Vinyl stepped into view. The words died in his throat and he stared in terror at the unicorn.

"Yes I'm afraid I must resign my position as first chair cellist, I'm moving to Ponyville you see. So I wouldn't be able to guarantee my ability to reliably commute for practice. I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience." She said unaware of the death glare coming from behind her.

Fortissimo was in an agony of rage and terror. He couldn't let the cellist who made the princess herself cry with her playing leave his orchestra, but he was genuinely terrified of the white unicorn with the blood red eyes. He tried to rally. "But mio caro, you just said you would play the gala. Y-y-you can't just.-"

"Oh me and my dorm mates will certainly perform at the gala, but that will be independent of this organization."

Fortissimo's eye twitched violently at the words ''dorm mates''. This pony. This mare who had humiliated him in front of his subordinates, then made herself a legend, just convinced him to sign her school mates to the highest social event in the land. "My dear, you simply mustn't.-" Vinyl signaled to Royal Blue, who brought his hulking frame into view, as much as could be seen through the doorway that is. Fortissimo's terror increased by an order of magnitude. ". . . WORRY ABOUT A THING. WE'LL CERTAINLY MISS YOU. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS. CIAO NOW." He ducked under his desk for terror.

Vinyl nodded and the two slipped back into the hall. Octavia stepped forward and shook hooves with the quivering pony under his desk. "Thank you so much for the opportunity sir." He said nothing, eyes fixed on the doorway. She bowed and exited the room.

He waited until the sound of retreating hoofsteps died away, then flipped his desk in a blind rage. He bucked all about the room swearing sulfurously. Pianissimo came around the corner holding a bundle of sheet music and saw the display his boss was making. He sighed and made the wisest choice of his career. He caught the first train back to Itailia. He would never again see the Royal Canterlot Fillyharmonic or Lord Fortissimo again, and he couldn't have been happier.

The three galloped back to the conservatory, the hole Royal Blue had put in the wall of Mad Mares was visible all the way across the street. Vinyl couldn't help but look around at the elegant buildings and feel a pang of guilt at causing her mare to want to give all of this up. Octavia stopped at her dormitory only long enough to grab some bits and scribble a letter to her gran mére explaining the signal service Roy had done them.

Thankfully Harpo was with her dorm mates and she told them all they'd be playing the grand galloping gala. They did not take it well. She then told them she was leaving the conservatory. They were all stunned. Then she told them She was moving to Ponyville to be with Vinyl. They exploded. The girlish squeal of Harpo and Deep Tones was deafening. Octavia being in a hurry left them on a good note.

They galloped off to the Cordial Chords String sectional where High Strung was annotating some music. "Umm Sir?" High Strung didn't look up. "I'm afraid I'm leaving the conservatory."

"Bye." Was all he said. Vinyl put on her trademark "Fuck you fight me." face, but Octavia put a hoof out smiling. That was just his way. They galloped out of the building and one word echoed in the silent sectional. "Dumbass."

They galloped to the train and Royal Blue was given the letter of introduction to Octavia's grandmother, a few bits, and instructions on what to do upon arriving in Calneigh. He crushed them both in a massive bear hug then galloped off giddy as a school filly. Octavia coughed to get her breath back. "That pony's going to stick out like a sore hoof. I just hope his grasp of the language is good enough to make it to Mareseilles without issue."

"Fuck 'im. I said I'd get 'im a week in Prançe and I did. Now we gotta hurry or we're gonna miss the last train to.-" Vinyl had to stop for a moment. "Wait, where the fuck are we goin?"

Octavia sighed hard. "Home."