Sounds of a Sister

by LadyRFC

Rating: everyone
Tags: Octavia, Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, DJ P0N-3
Length: 4439

When Pinkie's sisters come to town, Vinyl Scratch must come up with some new songs for their welcoming party. But it's hard for the blind pony to transfer sisterhood to sound...

For Vinyl Scratch, the entire world isn't in color, but in sound. Yet for all her love of her musical art, she doubts her work at times. When Pinkie Pie's two sisters are due to visit Ponyville suddenly, Vinyl is the one who is to provide music for the welcoming party. Yet the need to create new music for the gathering brings up Vinyl's doubts and forces her to investigate what sisterhood might "sound" like. And as she encounters one of Pinkie's sisters, she learns that one's talents are a part of who they are. And that talent is not whether you do something better than somepony else, but if you love what you do and give it your all.

Published 2012-12-27 12:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-27 12:10:02 UTC

Chapter 1

The nightingale was always the first sound she heard. It broke through her dreams and filled her with the sun. Vinyl gave a yawn and slowly maneuvered herself out of her bed. The nightingale was in high spirits this morning. For what seemed like the thousandth time, Vinyl muttered to herself about asking Fluttershy why it was that this nightingale always lived outside her window and why it had a strong love of singing at five in the morning. Not the Vinyl minded now. She’d long sense adjusted to the hours, often taking naps later in the day if there had been a party the night before.

Vinyl wondered slowly towards the small kitchen. It took the chill of the tile against her hooves to make her remember that she had yet to do any grocery shopping for the week.

“Eating out it is,” she whispered low. The sound from her throat was rough from sleep. Vinyl groaned, turned carefully around. She would need her sunglasses, despite the hour. A crunch at her feet halted her yet again. Dipping her head, ears forward, she gently pressed down with her hoof again. Another crunch. Vinyl frowned. It was one of her papers, likely her new composition.

“Why,” her voice sounded loud now in the empty room, “are you on the floor? I swore I put you on the desk…” Vinyl stood very still. Her mane moved slightly to one side. Wind. Moving in its direction, Vinyl came to a window, found the open side with her hooves and closed it firmly.

“Note to self: stop leaving windows open.” Vinyl went back over to the papers on the floor and began to pick them up. “Second note to self: number composition papers.”

~*~*~*~

The sounds of the morning in Ponyville were slow at first, as they usually were at dawn, and Vinyl relished every one. Daisy watering her flowers, Twilight calling out rapid orders to Spike, and the usual loud thumping sound from the Quills and Sofas shop. She theorized that Davenport was once again moving around the sofas so as to better tempt customers. Which was really rather silly as pens were in higher demand than sofas and Twilight’s business alone kept his shop open. The only sale he had made recently had been to Rarity and only then it had been because her cat had decided that her old sofa was only fit for a sudden and vicious death. From the dramatic wailing she had heard from Rarity at the time, Vinyl guessed that finding a bit of unshredded fabric an inch long on the old sofa would have been a miracle.

She heard the soft sound of Fluttershy in the distance, murmuring to some bunnies to keep up with her and not to get lost going through town. For an instant Vinyl thought she needed to ask the shy pony something, but another sound halted any answer from arriving.

“Oh, Vinyl Scratch! Vinyl! Wait up! Wait!”
Smiling, Vinyl came to a stop, though she had hardly been going at even a moderate gait and she doubted even an all out run could have kept her out of Pinkie Pie’s reach.

“Yo, Pinkie! What’s up?”

“The sky is up, silly. But that’s not important!”

Vinyl tilted her head in the direction of Pinkie’s voice. “I’d argue that point, but whatever. Shoot.”

“Shoot what?”

Vinyl smiled. Pinkie’s understanding of the world never ceased to amaze. “What’s so important, Pinkie?”

Pinkie took a large breath. Vinyl steeled herself.

“Igotapostcardthismorning-itwasexpress-andmysistersarecomingoverandI’mthrowingapartyandIneedmusic!”

As usual, Vinyl had to slowly decode Pinkie’s speech pattern before answering. “Your sisters are coming and you need me to DJ at their welcoming party?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” From the thumping sound of hooves hitting the ground, Vinyl guessed Pinkie was jumping up and down around her. In the few seconds she had before needing to respond, Vinyl searched her mind for any information on Pinkie’s sisters.

“You’re the oldest, right?”

“Yep, yep! And my sisters are twins! But they don’t look alike. What’s that called? Futile?”

“Fraternal.”

“That’s it!”

Vinyl began to move forward again at a slow gait. “Cool. So what day and time do I need to set up?”

Vinyl heard the jumping immediately stop cold. A gallop of hooves on dirt and Vinyl soon felt Pinkie’s nose press against her own, forcing her back a few steps.

“In three days! Three days! And it has to be the best, Vinyl! The best EVER!”

“Woah there Pinkie! I get the idea. Best ever. Got it. I’ll roll out some new tunes I have-“

“The BEST tunes!”

Vinyl tilted her head. “Uh,” feeling her sunglasses begin to shift, she reached up and adjusted them slightly. As sweet as Pinkie was around Vinyl’s still eyes, they still tended to put some ponies off. “Right. So no pressure or anything…. Pinkie? You ok? You seem…nervous.”

Pinkie was silent for a beat too long before answering. “Nervous? Of course not! Why would I be nervous about seeing my sisters again after all these years, especially when one doesn’t even answer my letters and for all I know they hate me for leaving?”

Vinyl frowned. “Uh, Pinkie? Maybe you should talk to-“

“Sorry, Vinyl! Gotta go get ready! Party will be at seven in the evening three days from now! They’re taking the late train! See you later!”

Vinyl stood still as Pinkie’s furiously fast hooves thundered off into the distance.

“Good morning, Vinyl! It’s going to be a nice day today!”

The sudden sound of Cheerilie’s voice made Vinyl nearly jump out of her coat. She wasn’t sure how long she had been still.

“Oh,” she concentrated on the feeling of the warm sun on her back, trying to forget the nagging thoughts bumping around in her mind. “Yeah. But it might get uncomfortably warm later…”

~*~*~*~

“I thought you said you were working on something new already?”

Vinyl prodded another folder, feeling the bumps along the edge. Another file of older mixes. She needed something new.

“I was. I am. It’s not done,” she answered Octavia absently. She could hear the earth pony walking over towards the window. Octavia always mentioned how wonderful Vinyl’s view was and had even described it for her once. It overlooked a small dripping ravine, with a tall oak tree right outside and wildflowers blooming in patches nearly all year long. They were purple now, Octavia had noted, though Vinyl had no idea what purple looked like. She guessed that if it were a sound it would be sweet and deep like the cello Octavia played.

“Just finish it then.”

Vinyl sighed. “It’s not that easy. It’s a big work. A mix of old and new. It has to be just right. There’s no way I can finish something that big in only… What day is it?”

“Keep calm, Vinyl. You still have all of today, tomorrow and the day after.”

Vinyl stopped at her desk and set one hoof on the papers there. She frowned. Well over half was written, but it was a theory only.

“You make it sound easy…” she murmured too low for Octavia to hear her.

Octavia was a prodigy when it came to composing, a fact that Vinyl couldn’t help but envy. After composing, Vinyl often had to work and rework the various melodies to obtain the music she wanted. Octavia, on the other hand, could write out a melody with complete confidence and rarely found it necessary to rewrite it.

“You’re the one that always tells me that music comes from within, Vinyl. Think about what the party is for. Sisters are reuniting after years being apart. Surely that alone is enough inspiration!”

“But that’s just it!” Vinyl dropped to the floor and laid down her head in a dejected fashion. “I’ve never had siblings, Octavia. I have no idea what it’s like! What does a sister reunion sound like?”

Octavia was silent for a long while. “That’s… a good question. Actually, I’m not sure either. But it’s probably beautiful.”

“Great. That’s all I have to go on then… Great…”

“Oh!” Octavia’s hooves shook the floor suddenly, as if a jolt had gone through her. “You could ask Rarity and Applejack! They have little sisters of their own!”

~*~*~*~

“Sunshine!”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow in question, spurring Applebloom to give an explanation.

“Well, when Applejack went away to that rodeo and she didn’t come back for such a long while, well, it was real sad. Ah was afraid she’d never come back! Ah started thinkin’ ‘bout all the times she gave me buckin’ lessons and how we’d compete to see who could pick up all the extra dropped apples on the ground fastest… It was like everything was grey, ya know?”

“Uh…”

“Oh, sorry, Vinyl. Ah mean, everything was rainy-like. And the bad kind, ya know. The kind that’s all cold and stuff.”

Vinyl thought about the muggy feeling just before a chill storm and some of her hair began to stand on end uncomfortably.

“But then when Applejack came home, gee was ah ever happy! It was like the sun came out! Ah could have bucked every apple tree in our farm all by myself!”

Vinyl smiled at the memory of Applejack’s return. “I think everypony can identify with that, kid. Wouldn’t be Ponyville without Applejack.”

“What y’all sayin’ about me now?”

Vinyl turned her face in the direction of Applejack’s voice, but small hooves thundered towards the rodeo star before she could answer.

“Vinyl wanted to know what it was like being reunited with you after you were gone to the rodeo so long and ah was tellin’ her that ah was so happy you came home and how it was like sunshine after rain!”

Applejack chuckled and Vinyl thought about how that sound reminded her of when her mother would tell her stories and she would always ask for me, even though she would be half asleep.

“Did ya now? Well, that’s just how it was. Ah was so lonely without you and Big Mac and Granny Smith and the farm. Comin’ home was the best decision ah ever made! Ah was jumping inside mah coat with the excitement of seein’ everypony again!”

~*~*~*~

Vinyl flinched at the sound of a large crash.

“Oh, my apologies, Vinyl Scratch. I’m working on such a large project and I just can’t tear myself away for one instant. So sorry for the mess!”

Vinyl walked forward slowly, sticking out her hooves slightly before cautiously stepping down. The last thing she wanted was to step on one of Rarity’s dresses, a fear she held every time she entered the boutique.

“Don’t worry about it,” Vinyl said, continuing to pick her way forward. “I actually just wanted to know if you and Sweetie Bell have ever been apart for a long time and what it felt like when you saw each other again…”

Vinyl heard the sound of Rarity’s magic and the whirl of fabric spinning off a roll.

“Oh, well, let me think…. Ah, yes! There was that one time Sweetie Bell went to camp. She was only there for a week or so. She got homesick you see and–“ The sound of Rarity’s sewing machine ripped through the air, blocking out the unicorn’s voice.

“–So she came home early and my was it nice! Well, I was busy on another of my projects, but I had never noticed how used to her I was! The sound of her hooves running all over was, well, it was magic.” Rarity then gave a soft laugh, probably at the memory, and Vinyl listened closely. It was like a wind chime, a fairy-like tinkling sound.

~*~*~*~

Vinyl checked her equipment once last time, touching each item. She lingered over the notes she had on the new songs. She had been able to compose a few new ones, pulling more than one all nighter in the process. Even so, she still had one song that was less than complete. It was her longer mix and it was one she wasn’t sure she’d even use, yet she couldn’t help but bring it.

Walking to the front of her cart, she carefully slid into the harness and began to pull it out into the afternoon sun. She would be extremely early, even for set up, but the tight feeling in her stomach kept her from doing much else.

As she made her way towards Sugercube Corner, she wondered over and over whether or not to use her longer composition. The song required the help of another pony and, though she had no doubt said pony would be up to the task, she felt self conscious about the song. As caught up as Vinyl was in her thoughts, it wasn’t until a small voice stopped her cold that she realized she was passing the train station.

“Excuse me, um, I’m not sure where I should go…”

Vinyl tilted her head. The voice was unfamiliar to her. “Oh? You new here?”

“Um, yes,” the voice replied. It was soft and low, reminding Vinyl of Fluttershy, though it was a bit deeper in tone.
“I’m actually here to see my sister, Pinkie Pie, and–“

“Oh! One of Pinkie’s sisters! Wow, you sure are early! My name’s Vinyl Scratch. Nice to meet cha!”

“Oh, um, nice to meet you. You can call me Blinky. It’s a nickname. Everyone calls me that.”

“Sweet! Oh and you can just follow me. I’m headin’ over to Sugarcube myself! That’s where the party will be.”

“Pinkie is throwing a party for us?”

Vinyl noticed the hope and excitement in the voice and smiled. This was one sister that seemed to be looking forward to the reunion.

“Of course she is! Pinkie’s the party expert around here. You couldn’t pay her not to throw parties. Especially when her sisters are in town. By the way, where’s your other sister? Isn’t she coming?”

“Oh, she is. I mean, she did. I mean… she’s here.”

“Oh? Well, then hello there other sister!” Vinyl listened for a reply but none came.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were – I mean, she’s not here here. I mean she’s just here. I mean, she came here with me, but when we arrived she…left. I don’t know where she is now…”

Vinyl frowned. So that was the problem that had so worried Pinkie. “Oh, well, I’m sure she’ll turn up. Hard to get lost around here. Town is pretty small really.”

Vinyl started forward again, hearing Blinky’s hooves slowly following her.

“You nervous?”

“What?” Blinky sounded surprised at Vinyl’s sudden question and stumbled for an answer. “Oh, well, um, well, yes. I just… yes.”

Vinyl was silent a moment. “Is it your other sister?”

Blinky sighed. “Yes… Inky loves Pinkie Pie. But she… she’s mad. And… yeah.”

“Pinkie writes, I’m pretty sure.”

“Oh yes! Yes, she does! It’s just… It’s been years since we’ve seen her. She doesn’t…visit. Not that I blame her! I mean, we, well, we don’t live exciting lives. We don’t have parties all the time or chase off snoring dragons polluting the sky or fend off dark villains with elements of harmony or anything amazing like that…” Blinky’s tone, which had risen in excitement at recounting her sister’s adventures, dropped and she became silent once more.

Vinyl allowed a soft chuckle to get by. “Is that what you think Pinkie’s life is like here?”

“Oh, yes! I mean, she tells us about all her adventures and–“

Vinyl let out a full burst of laughter.

“W-what’s so funny?”

“It’s just, well, sure Pinkie has done all of that, but most days are normal, ya know? And sure Pinkie is known for her parties, and we have our far share of em, but they aren’t every day. She takes out the trash in the morning just like everypony.”

“Yeah, but we… we live on a rock farm. It’s not… It’s not the kind of life Pinkie is into anymore. Our lives are boring. I’m boring. That’s why, that’s why she left. Isn’t it?”

Vinyl had to think before answering this time and she was careful to be honest. “I can’t tell you why Pinkie left because I’m not her. You’ll need to ask her yourself. But I can tell you this. Comparing who you and what you do to others is a dangerous thing. You are you and Pinkie Pie is herself. Comparing yourself to somepony else will only make you unhappy with you.”

Vinyl thought for a moment more before deciding on an example. “There’s this pony here named Octavia. She’s a musician, like me. We met way back in the academy, in music theory class, to be exact. Now, I’ve always loved music, and I have some talent for it, if I do say so myself. But back when I first met Octavia, I was really intimidated by her. She’s really talented. I mean, really. She was the top of the class. Plays all kinds of stringed instruments and can compose for any number of others. She can think of a tune and get it onto paper in a flash. And me? Well, I stick to my mixing table and I think writing for reed instruments is a nightmare. Plus I had a hard time in music theory, so Octavia had to tutor me. I was so jumpy around her. I thought that she must judge me because I composed mixed music, while she composed classical. But once we started to talk about music, I realized something. How she heard music and how I heard music were really different, but both of us could make ponies smile with the music we made. Different sounds, but the same results. So I figured out that I didn’t have to be a prodigy like Octavia to be good at something. I didn’t even really need to be all that great by other ponies’ standards either. I loved what I did and I’ll never give it up. Not for anything in the whole world. My talent is mine. It may not be a good as somepony else’s, but it’s me and that’s enough.

“Your talents, whatever they are, may not be as… energetic as Pinkie’s, but they are yours. Don’t compare yourself to anypony else. Do your best at what you love. You’ll be a lot happier, too. And you just might find that when you put your all into what you love, others will find it more amazing than you could have ever thought possible. Trust me, real friends love you for who you are, not who you aren’t. ”

Vinyl suddenly stopped, having finally noticed that the number of hoof beats had increased significantly. They were on the main street now.

“Oops. Sorry, ‘bout that Blinky. Seems I talked us right into town. Gosh. Didn’t know I could talk so much.”

“No, no, it’s fine! You… What you said makes me think about a lot of things. Thank you, Vinyl Scratch.”

“Hey, no problem, kid. Sugarcube Corner should be in front of us a bit–“

“Oh yes! Thank you! Are you coming?”

Vinyl gave a grin. “You kidding? I’m the DJ for tonight! But I have to set up out back, so you go ahead inside and see Pinkie Pie before she jumps herself into a smokestack.”

Blinky gave a nervous laugh. “Ok. And thanks again, Vinyl.”

~*~*~*~

Darkness cooled Vinyl’s coat before she managed to plug in the last speaker. The job would have been faster except, as usual, Pinkie had forgotten to find the extension cords and set them up beforehand. This led to a house wide search that resulted in Pinkie getting distracted by talking Blinky to death and Vinyl getting distracted by keeping Pumpkin Cake from eating the newly found extension cords.

The sound of various pony voices and rapid fire introductions by Pinkie notified Vinyl that guests were already arriving.

“Oh, but it’s getting dark! Maybe we should find Inky, right Blinky?” Pinkie was beginning to sound a bit too jittery again.

“Oh, yes–“

“No need.”

All conversation in the room came to a halt. The silence was immense for more than a few seconds. Even Pinkie didn’t reply right away.

“Oh. Wel-welcome Inky! Welcome to Ponyvillie! Everypony, this is my other sister, Inky! She-“

“Stop!” Inky’s voice rang out again. Louder.

Pinkie obeyed. Vinyl was still behind her deck, frowning. The silence was worse than the kind that always happened right before one of Octavia’s recitals.

“Stop acting as if you care, Pinkie! What are we to you? Huh? We live on a rock farm. A ROCK farm! But maybe you forgot about that while you were here with all you NEW friends. Why care about scraps from your old life when you have a NEW one? Right, Pinkie?!”

“No, Inky, you’re my sister and –“

“Stop! Just stop it, Pinkie. You never came home to visit. You never asked us to visit. We had to come on our own. Why is that, Pinkie? Don’t worry about answering. I already know the answer! It’s because your old life doesn’t mix with the new life, right? Because we aren’t like your NEW friends!”

“STOP IT!” Blinky’s voice, once so soft, rang loudly in the tense air. It was no timid request. It was a command. Silence commanded the air again.

“Inky, look,” Blinky’s voice was soft once more and Vinyl’s ear pricked forward to listen close. “I was worried too. You know I was. We haven’t seen Pinkie in so long. But somepony told me something important today. She told me that we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. That real friends love you for who you are, not who you aren’t. We don’t have to be like Pinkie’s new friends for her to love us.”

“That’s right, Inky,” Pinkie’s voice was calm, though still cautious. Vinyl heard her hoof beats trod closer to Inky’s voice. “I love you very much. And, to be honest, I was worried that you guys didn’t like me anymore! Whenever you wrote back you always mentioned how busy you were, so I was afraid to ask you to come visit and I was afraid to visit you myself. And then you stopped writing and I thought you hated me! But I never forgot you. Either of you. You’re my sisters. And my very first friends. I’ll always love you. Always!”

The sound of hoof beats drawing near and cooing from the crowd let Vinyl know that hugs were being exchanged and all was well with the world. Except for one thing.

“Octavia? You here?”
The sound of hoof beats came near Vinyl as she pulled out her composition notes.

“Of course. I had no other engagements tonight. And I’m curious what you came up with.” Vinyl could hear the smile in her tone.

“Yeah, well, I need your help with that. You have your cello with you?”

Vinyl felt Octavia step beside her. She must have been peering down at the notes on the ground because she was silent for a moment.

“No. But I know of a pegasus that could fetch it for me as quick as lightning.”

~*~*~*~

As they waited for Rainbow Dash to return, Octavia studied the bumped notes on the pages.

“You can play it.” Vinyl wasn’t asking a question, but stating a fact.

Octavia chuckled. “Of course. But… why didn’t you ever mention this before?”

“Well, I was, self conscious, ya know?”

“Self conscious?” Octavia’s tone implied her raised eyebrow.

Vinyl sighed. “It’s just… I’ve never composed for a cellist before… I compose mixes, not… symphonies.”

“You compared your work to mine.”

Vinyl nodded, feeling more than a little embarrassed after having lectured Blicky not but a few hours ago.

“But I really wanted to find out if we could do this. Mix old and new sounds in perfect harmony. Different methods. The same result…”

Octavia got up, her hoofs thumping in the dirt. “Well, here comes Rainbow Dash… You know, I won’t promise it’ll turn out how you want.”

Vinyl nodded.

“But,” Octavia took a breath, “I will play my best and I’ll do it my way… You?”

Vinyl smiled. “Good luck keeping up with my beats, Ms. Classypants.”

~*~*~*~

Vinyl was sure the ending that they played was far from the ending she had written down, but it was one that was equal parts new and old, fast and slow, and from the massive applause of everypony there and the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction in her breast, she felt it was all for the best.

“I hope you paid close attention to what we just did. Because now you need to write down the new notes.”

Vinyl snorted as she changed her tracks and put in a new one called “Sunshine.”

“Actually, you’re faster at writing notes down, Octavia. So I think you should do that part.”

“Oh, really? And what shall you be doing?”

Vinyl smiled at the smirking tone in her friend’s voice. “Adding more.”

“More?!” Octavia sounded a bit alarmed. “Don’t you think it’s long enough as it is?”

“Not length,” Vinyl leaned forward, listening to the sounds around her. She heard Twilight lecturing Spike on eating too much chocolate late at night, Rarity moaning about some fashion disaster Applejack was mistakenly committing and Cheerilie attempting to keep Scootaloo from falling face first into the giant punch bowl. And she heard Pinkie Pie talking to her sisters. She heard their laughter, one soft and twittering and the other loud and broken with an occasional snort.

“Not length,” she repeated, “Sound. I want it to sound like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like friendship.”

Octavia snorted, yet her voice remained light. “That’s quite the lofty goal.”

Vinyl smiled. “Would you play it with me?”

Octavia walked over and sat beside her old friend as the track switch to one called “Magical.”

“Of course.”

Author's Note

I wrote this story as a Christmas gift for my brother, whom I love very much. It wasn't uploaded on Christmas day though because it was a monster to edit. >_<
It should also be noted that this is my first ever attempt at an MLP fanfic and I'm more than a little nervous about it. But as Vinyl learns, no matter how small you think your talent is, it is part of who you are and thus has value so long as your heart is in it ^_^
So Merry -late- Christmas, everypony! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it~! <3