Music, Wubs, and Duct Tape
A loud knocking on the apartment door caused Vinyl to groan in pain, her head pounding with a hangover from the night before. She lay there for a moment with her head stuffed under her pillow and hoped what she heard was nothing more than her imagination. Just as she thought she was in the clear and closed her eyes again happily, the knocking intensified.
She slid out of bed with a groan and almost lost her footing at the mess covering the floor, bottles and discarded junk food boxes rustling with each step. As she stumbled her way out of her room, Vinyl tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. A crunch under hoof caused her to look down at the egg yolk spilling on the floor. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she wiped her hoof off on the rug, wondering how and why she had an egg on the floor. A soft clucking drew her attention to her kitchen sink where a plump chicken was sleeping in a large bowl next to the basin. Vinyl stared for a few moments trying to determine where the fowl had come from before the intensified pounding brought her attention back to the door.
“I... don’t even…” Reaching the apartment door, Vinyl levitated the chain off the door and opened it. Before she could even see who it was, a gray earth pony wearing a pink bowtie pushed her way into the apartment. Opening her mouth to speak, the DJ pony’s questions were cut off as she was wrapped in a tight hug.
“Oh, thank Celestia you’re alright. I was so worried about you!” Octavia was squeezing with all her strength and due to her Earth pony heritage; she was actually choking Vinyl a bit. “When I read about it, I couldn’t imagine what you were going to do. I can’t imagine-“
“Geez Tavi, let go of me for a sec!” The unicorn pushed off her friend and massaged her now aching neck. “What in the name of Equestria is so important, you woke me up on a Monday at eight in the morning when I could be recovering from a night of partying?”
“You don’t know? I was reading it this morning and came across an article involving you. ” Octavia reached into her bags and fished out the Equestria Daily newspaper and held it out to her. “I saw it this morning and I thought you would have heard about it already.”
Levitating the newspaper in reading view, Vinyl scanned the headlines. A unicorn claiming to be the long lost cousin of Celestia. Something about a sale of rainbow cupcakes from Ponyville. A study about gems being possible conduits for magic. Same old news, different day.
“I don’t see how any of this is my problem.” Vinyl pointed out, thinking fondly of her bed. Oh, that pillow could be so tantalizing sometimes. Just begging to be caressed and cuddled before she snuggled into its downy warmth and…
Octavia lifted the newspaper and pointed out the black and white photograph in the top corner. Peering closely, Vinyl recognized the picture of her and Pinkie leaning on each other with mugs of cider in their grasp. Scanning quickly through the story she read:
“The name DJ PON-3 is a well-known name in the clubs of downtown Canterlot where the famed DJ most commonly plays her beats. While she has often been found in the company of Neon Lights, The Living Tombstone, and other known musically gifted ponies, last night we found our self-proclaimed Mistress of Musical Mayhem in the company of the pony responsible for the infamous Pony Pokie incident at the Grand Galloping Gala two years ago. While they appear to be good friends, this is not what had us so interested in the pair.
Rather it is what they did after the party. We followed their entourage out to a deserted nearby park where the pink pony produced a cannon and began firing confetti everywhere. As they were rolling around in their drunken stupor, Miss Vinyl Scratch ran off for fifteen minutes and came back wheeling a cart. Our interest was piqued as she whipped off the tarp covering it, revealing what appeared to be a large speaker on it.
As we watched, Vinyl Scratch wheeled it off the cart and hit something on top of it. The next thing we knew, a cacophony of noise and blue energy blasted out of the speaker and gouged out a massive trench in the dirt for as far as we could see. The laughter was audible but barely so as our ears had just violated by the sound unleashed by this contraption.
This raised a question: where did Vinyl Scratch get this weapon? Moreover, WHY does she have this weapon?
When we asked around, nopony seemed able to answer the question. Some of them suggested that maybe the meeting last night was merely a weapon test. A test between two conspirators perhaps? And what would be there goal? Weaponizing musical theory in order to overthrow the two Princesses? While this may seem far-fetched, do remember the reports of the pink pony all over Equestria, stashing balls and other items for “such and such emergencies.”
Ladies and gentlecolts, we contacted the Equestrian Royal Guard about our findings and they have promised to bring in the group for questioning and confiscation of these powerful weapons. In the meantime, if you see either of these terrorists, please avoid them at all costs as they are extremely dangerous.
-J.J
Octavia watched closely as Vinyl lowered the paper with a confused look on her face. She looked down and opened her mouth but no sounds came out.
“Vinyl? I’m sorry but I have to ask…”
“Yeah Tavi?” Vinyl began rereading the article to make sure she had read it correctly.
“Why is there a chicken in your sink?”
“No idea. Still not the worst thing to wake up to.” Vinyl looked up. “When I went to Las Pegasus, I heard a story about some ponies that had trashed the penthouse and left a Timberwolf in the bathroom. Which was one of the reasons I couldn’t stay in it.”
“You are joking, right?” Octavia surveyed the room with slight disgust. “How would they even manage to get a Timberwolf into the hotel?”
“I have no idea. The hotel also told me about the party they threw. Man, it sounded like one heck of a time. Wish I could have been there. Apparently there was also a foal involved-”
“Focus, Vinyl!” Octavia snapped, her patience beginning to wear thin.
“Right, right. I don’t get this article at all. Its like they ask a question and then give their own answer that contradicts the story they were just telling.”
“Vinyl, the media is always eager to sell their paper, regardless of how low they have to stoop. But.. do you really have a cannon?”
“I’m not so sure about a cannon but I do have a Wub Particle Emitter.” Vinyl crumpled the paper up and tossed it aside. “Here, I’ll show you.”
Picking their way through the mess, Octavia thanked Celestia that she didn’t have practice till 3. The cellist had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment and she gingerly picked her way through her friend’s messy apartment, trying not to place her hooves on trash. She understood that her friend worked late nights and constantly had hectic schedules but was it too much to pick up here and there?
When they reached her recording studio, Octavia felt a lot better. This equipment was worth hundreds of bits and Vinyl kept this room immaculately clean. It never failed to surprise her how neat everything in here was in comparison to the rest of the unicorn’s home with the exception of a lone pizza box on a small cluttered table strewn with wires and tools. Following her friend over to the corner where something was covered, Octavia felt her curiosity being piqued.
“Here we go. Meet Bass.” Vinyl said proudly, uncovering the large speaker. Octavia looked it over. It looked the same as all the oversized speakers the unicorn had gathering dust in the corner. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Is it actually a weapon? Aren’t you worried about the Royal Guard coming to question you and confiscate this… thing?” Octavia asked, approaching the speaker cautiously, an inquisitive expression on her face.
“Nah, I’m not too worried about it. They can’t possibly think this kind of thing is dangerous.” Vinyl yawned widely, her joints popping as she stretched.
“I saw the pictures of the park. I’m worried that the Royal Guard will be less inclined to believe that a speaker did that.” Octavia replied dryly, watching with disgust as Vinyl opened the box on the work table and pulled out a slice of cold pizza. The unicorn took a bite and chewed for a moment, her eyes contemplating her equipment. “Where did you get this idea from?”
“Well, a few weeks ago I was at a club and I noticed that the lights were affected by the rhythm and beat of the music because it was so loud. So I had an idea: what if you could see the music, experience it with all of your senses without it being deafening? Wubsy is a prototype build on that idea and last night was a test run with Pinkie because she was showing off her deluxe party cannon. My concept worked for the most part but… I may have overdid it with the audio emitters.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning this thing could blow your eardrums out if you stood in front of it. And possibly your head off.”
Octavia leaned over and saw there were three buttons on it. A red one, a blue one and a green one. Curiousity went against her better judgement and she reached out to press the blue one.“What do these do?”
“Tavi no!!”
Noise. That is the only word that came to the mind of the Earth pony.
Not being as accustomed to loud noises as Vinyl, she dropped to the ground and tried desperately to shield her ears from her ears being violated by the wubs, whirs, and screes assailing her ears. The violation of her ears caused her to curl in a ball to attempt to shield herself from the unsanctioned entry of sound into her mind.
The next thing Octavia knew was she was waking up on the ground, covered in dust. Pushing herself up and rising on shaky feet, she saw Vinyl standing there staring at the massive hole in the apartment. The cellist followed her gaze and felt her eyes widen. Not only had the cannon blasted a hole through the wall, it had gone through the next building and the building behind that, leaving a perfect circle carved through the stuctures. She felt her jaw drop as sirens began going off.
“What was that button..?” She realized she couldn’t hear her own voice that well. Octavia shook her head, a faint ringing in her ears that refused to go away. She rubbed her ear and was aware there was liquid running out of her ears. Raising her hoof, Octavia felt her stomach drop at the drops of blood on her hoof. Vinyl turned to her and after a few moments of her speaking, Octavia shook her head in response staring at the blood. The white unicorn’s horn glowed and Octavia felt her ears itching painfully from the inside. She rubbed at it in irritation but it faded in a few moments to a faint memory.
“Better?” Vinyl asked, her eyes full of concern. Octavia nodded, grateful to be able to hear again. The glasses her friend wore were cracked in places, purple glass missing from the frames. She levitated them off her face and tossed them aside, another pair levitating out of the drawer and onto her face.
“What was that button?” Octavia asked, feeling a slight disorientation at the sight of destroyed buildings.
“The blue is the control, the green is the synthesizer, and the red is the kill switch…” Vinyl replied, carefully unplugging Bass.
“What’s the difference?!”
“You get different lights?” Vinyl offered, a nervous grin on her face. “Thankfully you didn’t hit the red or else this whole building would have come down on top of us.”
“Vinyl, we just destroyed three buildings! If you weren’t thought to be a terrorist before, then you definitely seem like one now!”
“Hmmm…” Vinyl looked at the holes with interest. “Technically speaking, YOU pressed the button.”
“I- I did not!” Octavia sputtered. “I simply asked what it did and it went off!”
“Yeah.” Vinyl grinned. “Octavia is a bass cannon wielding terrorist. Watch out, fillies! She’s got a cello and she can put you to sleep with it!”
“Oh, hush up! This is no time to be joking!” Octavia yelled as the ponies in surrounding buildings were beginning to be lifted out of the buildings by pegasus ponies. “We have to figure out what we’re going to tell the authorities!”
“I know what I’m telling them.” Vinyl replied, picking up her dust covered slice of pizza and blowing it clean before taking a bite.
“What are you going to tell them?”
“I was asleep.” She had reached the door when she nearly fell face first onto the ground, her tail was caught under something. Vinyl turned and beheld an expression that terrified her. Octavia looked ready to snap, her bowtie had come undone and her neat mane was in complete disarray. Her right eye was twitching ever so slightly.
“I’m glad you’re sexy when you’re angry.” Vinyl offered, attempting a grin. “Especially considering how often you get mad at me.”
“Vinyl, what are we going to do?” Octavia asked again, her expression not softening.
The unicorn thought for a moment and brightened visibly. She brushed her limbs off and stood with a brave grin.
“You head on home and pretend you never left. Go practice your stuffy music while I clean up your mess.” Octavia ignored her slight at her music but nevertheless began to make her way to the door.
“Are you sure you can handle this, Vinyl?” She asked, looking concerned. “I kind of destroyed your apartment…”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s all good.” Vinyl grinned her easy grin, her shades flashing. “What kind of friend wouldn’t help protect a fellow friend’s reputation?”
Octavia felt a massive stab at guilt as the DJ pony began digging through her drawers, mumbling something about lemon glue. Here she was worried about her reputation as a high society cellist when she had caused what was probably irreparable damage to Vinyl’s own reputation. And Vinyl was grinning like it was nothing! She hadn’t even considered the price to fix everything. Add that along with the article just printed and Vinyl was effectively done being a DJ forever.
What kind of friend was she…?
“No… I did this… I can’t let you take the blame.” Octavia said, closing the door and walking towards the unicorn who was levitating a large roll of duct tape and had begun plastering long strips across the wall. Vinyl turned, a bit of tape stuck to her nose as the tape yanked, pulling a bit of her coat out. She rubbed her nose and continued to manipulate the roll, quickly making an improvised wall of strips of black tape.
Octavia stared at the wall for a minute before speaking. “This was your plan…? Duct tape?”
“Duct tape! The secret to solving every problem in the world!” Vinyl declared as the entire wall with the tape covering the hole fell off and tumbled towards the ground. A loud crash didn’t faze her but she glanced back in the faint hope the wall hadn’t actually collapsed. “I can fix that…”
“Um… Vinyl…? We have company.” The cellist turned pale, her eyes staring out the side of the building.
Vinyl glanced out the at the Royal Guards headed straight towards the pair. The three large ponies had angry expressions and it didn’t seem likely they would listen to their story, whatever that was.
“Well, got any ideas?” Vinyl asked Octavia, who shook her head in response.
“Not a one.”
“Well, good thing duct tape solves everything!!”
Vinyl hurled the duct tape roll at the approaching stallions. The loose end caught on one of their wings and stuck fast, the heavy roll arcing in a semicircle and wrapping around the limbs of other two. Effectively tangled and their flight pattern wrecked, they crashed into the rubble on the apartment floor and were knocked unconscious instantly. The duo stared for a moment before Octavia began to panic.
“What have you done?!” She shrieked as the building shook a bit. “You knocked them out!”
“No I didn’t! The ground knocked them out!” Vinyl replied, stripping the duct tape off the unconscious ponies. She prodded them but they weren’t waking up anytime soon. The sound of wings caused her to peer out of the side. There were several pegasus ponies staring in shock at them, their mouths open in fear.
“Its her! The terrorist!”
“Wait, I’m not a terrorist!” Vinyl protested, taking a step forward. “It’s just music!”
“I don’t know if I’d call it music…” Octavia murmured, rubbing her ear. “Listening to it makes my ears bleed…”
The ponies screamed and took off in different directions, yelling out for the guards. The unicorn was left standing in her destroyed studio with her friend and three stallions secured with duct tape. She shot a look at Octavia, her easy grin long gone.
Yep. This was definitely damning evidence.
“Well, Tavi.” Vinyl said, walking over to her table and began dismantling her equipment as fast as she could. Levitating several things at once, she began to put them in a large black case. “Change of plans: we’re getting out of Canterlot.”
“But I have a life here! I can’t just leave my job and everything else behind!” Octavia protested as she watched her friend finish dismantling her mixing equipment and focus her magic on the case, teleporting it elsewhere. “You may able to pack and go in minutes but I can’t!!”
“Well, Tavi we have three unconscious guards here wrapped in duct tape and destroyed buildings around us. Those ponies are probably getting more guards as we speak. You’re an accomplice now by just being with me even though you are the one who caused the buildings to get destroyed.” Vinyl replied, focusing her magic on the other larger pieces of equipment and sending them elsewhere. A faint sheen of sweat was visible as she manipulated various pieces of equipment. “I have a few friends who can hide us until this all blows over. You can get that vacation you’ve always been talking about.”
“Run away from Canterlot and go into hiding? But Vinyl…” Octavia struggled to come with an argument. “What about my cello and my apartment? I need those if I am going to return to my job after all of this.”
“Riiiiiiight….” Vinyl paused for a moment as a she levitated a sheet of paper and scrawled something on it in marker. Before Octavia could read it, it vanished in a flash of cyan light. “There we go. Neon will get your cello and it will be waiting for us at the train station.”
“But all my stuff…!”
“It’ll be fine. Nopony is going to steal it and if they do, I’ll get you replacements.” Vinyl cut her off and began pulling her along, headed towards the door. “Come on.”
“I’m not leaving Canterlot!” Octavia pulled free and stood her ground, glaring at the white unicorn. “You can’t make me.”
“Octavia..”
“No! I am not moving from this spot and there is nothing you or anypony else can do to make me leave.”
“Challenge accepted.” Vinyl sighed, turned and faced her friend, setting her case on the floor.
For a few moments, there was no movement except for a faint glow around Vinyl’s horn. The chicken came levitating out of the sink behind Octavia before it was tossed onto her head, squawking in fear. The pony yelled in surprise as Vinyl quickly seized her trusty duct tape. The earth pony struggled to dislodge the fowl before she was suddenly tackled to the ground before Vinyl began taping her legs together.
She struggled with the cellist in the mess, attempting to hold her still long enough to manipulate the tape around her legs. A stray leg smacked Vinyl in the face, dislodging her glasses and sending them flying. Baring her teeth and striving to ignore the pain, Vinyl seized her flailing limbs and fought to pin her down. Even though she was strong, Octavia was shocked when Vinyl actually managed to pin her to the floor.
“When did you get so strong?” She demanded as Vinyl finished taping her limbs together, trying to wiggle free.
“I work long nights and walk home alone at three in the morning. There are creeps out there at night. You gotta stay in shape so you don’t get raped.” The unicorn paused before continuing securing the earth pony. Octavia stared at her, unable to even respond. “That sounded way cooler in my head…”
“Vinyl! Let me go this instant!” The grey pony yelled before Vinyl placed a square piece of tape over her mouth, effectively silencing her. Dragging the struggling Octavia behind her, Vinyl propped her up against the door and went to pick up her purple shades. Sliding them on her face, she grinned at the angry Tavi.
“Awesome. Now let’s get out of here before-“
Before she could finish the statement, the door flew open and smacked Octavia in the face. The cellist’s eyes widened before her head dropped to one shoulder. Vinyl instinctively backed away from the pony standing in her doorway. The rescue pony looked all around the apartment before his eyes rested on Vinyl. His mouth opened and before he could even utter a word, he simply collapsed.
“If this is going to be a regular thing, I don’t mind moving.” She growled, levitating an unconscious Octavia on her back and heading out the door. Closing her eyes, she focused on a short range teleportation spell to the ground. The brief wash of magic enveloped the pair and they reappeared on the ground next to the DJ’s apartment. The large crowd of ponies was running back and forth, looking after ponies who had been injured.
Vinyl began trudging carefully through the crowd, trying to keep her head down and not draw attention to herself. It was a difficult task when you had a grey earth pony duct taped and unconscious on your back. That tended to get attention.
Very quickly.
“There she is!!” A stallion yelled, pointing at her. She flinched as the crowd turned and upon seeing her, proceeded to scream and flee the street in panic and leaving several Canterlot guards standing there. She felt herself falter a bit at the glares they were giving her.
“Miss Vinyl Scratch, you are hereby under arrest for destruction of public property, noise disturbance, possession of a dangerous weapon, and apparently...” The largest stallion spoke looking at the unconscious mare on her back. “Foalnapping.”
“Yeah… about that….” Vinyl chuckled, rubbing her neck to buy her time. “Actually, I was just- LOOK OUT!!”
She pointed at the building behind them but none of them turned, keeping their gaze focused on her. The unicorn gestured wildly behind them, her movements frantic. “I’m serious!! Look out!!”
When they made no move to look behind them, Vinyl dropped into a crouch and covered her head, tucking her glasses under her for protection. The stallions exchanged a glance before responding to her odd behavior.
“We’re not falling for that old trick. Now, get off the ground so we can…”
A shadow covered them and they turned to look over their shoulders in time to see the building falling towards them, bricks and rubble dropping towards them. Letting out screams, they took off for the sky. Vinyl kept her eyes closed as the building collapsed, hoping that because she was hugging the wall, she would be safe.
The ground shook as the several tons of stone hit the pavement and shook the surrounding areas. Dust billowed out in a massive cloud around them and obscuring the entire block with brown dust. The unicorn coughed as it settled into her lungs and setting her to hacking. As she waited for the tremors to subside, Vinyl became aware of a squirming next to her. She looked at Octavia whose glare would rival the legendary Stare of the Element of Kindness. Ripping off the tape from Octavia’s mouth, Vinyl was unsurprised at the tirade that came from the barely visible pony’s mouth.
“Vinyl Scratch, you foul uncouth tomboyish immature mare you!! Release me this instant or when I get out and get my hooves on you, Tartarus will seem like a pleasant getaway in comparison!”
“Yeah… I like it when you are angry.” Vinyl smiled. “You’re pretty cute when you’re angry.”
“Vinyl, I will personally march up to the palace and beg for an audience with Celestia to swear undying loyalty to her and prove myself worthy of a favor in any task she sets me that she grants me one wish. Then I will use that wish to send you straight to the moon!!”
“Are you done?” Vinyl yawned and began levitating the cellist down the street beside her, walking quickly to the nearest train station. “Because we don’t need you drawing any attention right now, Miss Fancy Pants Octavia.”
“Fancy Pants? Oh you-“ Her furious response was cut off by Vinyl replacing the tape on her mouth. She struggled harder as she was levitated down back streets and alleys in order to avoid all the ponies rushing to check for any injured.
“Think my insurance will cover the apartment?” Vinyl asked conversationally. The death glare she got in response said it all. “Yeah you’re probably right… Demolished by bass cannon doesn’t seem likely to be in there.”
She brightened at that. “Hey, we may have just found a way to improve society! A clause for all musical based disasters! Ah yeah!!”
Octavia felt her eye twitch in anger as they reached the main street a few blocks away and Vinyl lowered her to the ground. She continued to glare at the unicorn as she carefully removed the duct tape once again.
“Ok, we’re not that much farther from the train station but we need to cross a busy street and I can’t carry you across. If I let you out, do you promise not to try to run?” Vinyl asked, lifting her shades. Octavia’s eyes gazed in Vinyl’s magenta ones for a good minute before she nodded tersely. The unicorn slowly unwrapped her friend’s legs, watching her carefully and getting ready to tackle her if need be.
Much to her surprise however, she did not have to do so. Octavia merely straightened her unkempt mane, redid her bowtie, and promptly smacked Vinyl across the face.
“What was that for?!” She asked, holding her cheek and wincing in pain. Octavia merely blinked and smiled.
“You deserve that for causing me panic, tying me up, and then foalnapping me. “
“Don’t lie. You loved it.” Vinyl led the way down the street, sticking behind Octavia who managed to mostly hide her from ponies on the other side of the street. She thanked Celestia it was still early in the morning and the streets were mostly empty.
“Quite the contrary. I prefer being the one to tie others up.” Octavia said without thinking and continued walking before realizing that Vinyl had stopped dead in her tracks. She looked at her confused before the cellist realized what she had just said. Her cheeks turned a faint pink before she turned away and hurried along, trying to force the burning in her face down.
“Wow… Tavi. Just wow.” Vinyl managed to say when she caught up to her. “I didn’t think you were into that kind of thing.”
“H-hush up.” Octavia stammered, her cheeks burning and her gaze on the sidewalk. “It is unbecoming of a lady to speak of such things in public. You are a terrible influence on me.”
“Nah. If anything, I’m a great influence. Get you all loosened up and hope you lose that high attitude of yours.” Vinyl replied as they neared the train station. There was a unicorn stallion waiting, his eyes hidden by a pair of black glasses. Him and Vinyl exchanged nods before he indicated the empty car next to him.
“What’s up, Neon? How’s the eye?” Vinyl asked as he removed his glasses. Octavia winced at the purple bruise surrounding his left eye. He shrugged and closed the door behind him.
“I’m fine. Just tell Pinkie next time she shouldn’t squirm so much when she’s crowd surfing. Otherwise, ponies get hurt.” Neon replied, levitating over a large case. Octavia gasped and took it, immediately throwing it open to reveal her gleaming cello. She examined it carefully, taking in all the taut strings and making sure the bow was tucked in neatly.
“Everything there, Octavia?” He asked her, noting her worried expression. “I mean, I grabbed what I could before the guards showed up. They’re asking all of your friends if they know of your whereabouts.”
“No, its all here. I’m grateful for what you’ve done, but I don’t feel comfortable fleeing Canterlot with Vinyl. I mean, I have a steady and respectable job for high society ponies.”
“Tavi, we’ve been over this. You blew a hole in my apartment and the ones next to it. You are just as much a terrorist as me now.” Vinyl grinned at the scowl on Octavia’s face before turning back to Neon. “What about you? Are they coming to look for you?”
“Don’t worry, Tomb and I would never sell you out. I figured you could lay low with your old college friends in Ponyville. Lyre and Ban-Ban, you said their names were?”
“Lyra and Bon-Bon.” Vinyl corrected, taking the offered tickets and examining them closely. “Sweet. Haven’t seen them since Rarity’s little dress fiasco. It’ll be nice to catch up with them again.”
“Train departing for Ponyville in 1 minute!” The conductor called out, walking down the train. “All aboard!”
“That’s my cue.” Neon hopped off the train and waved at them. “Take care and make sure not to draw attention to yourself!”
As the train began pulling away from the station, a group of Royal Guards came rushing up and pushed Neon aside, aiming for the open compartment. Octavia pulled the door shut just in time as the stallions leaped. The collision with the door caused it to cave in slightly before returning to its normal shape. Vinyl leaned out the window and blew a raspberry at the stallions piled on the floor.
As the train sped off, one of the stallions seized Neon and held him in an iron grip. “Where are they going?” He noticed his black eye and raised an eyebrow. “What happened to you?”
Neon began to start crying. “I don’t know! They took my money and beat me with a cello! They left me here to die all alone! Please... I wanna go home!”
The guard dropped him with a look of disgust and the group ran off towards the palace. After a few moments, Neon climbed to his feet and picked up his glasses. Sometimes the year of theatre he had taken in college paid off.
* * *
Octavia looked outside at the passing landscape, her thoughts on their current situation. While neither of them were really criminals, by choosing to flee they had turned themselves into fugitives in the process. Hoping that the trip would be a short one, she felt the train shake a bit. Peering out her window, she saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Leaning into the hallway, she peered left then right. What she saw caused her heart to plummet. There were large white pegasus ponies making their way back towards their compartment, checking each one as they went by. There was no way they’d be able to hide at this rate. They had to think of something. Looking over at the sleeping unicorn, Octavia nudged the drooling pony, who groaned and swatted at her hoof. She poked her harder, this time in the muzzle.
“Vinyl, get up! They’re almost here!”
“No, Tavi I’m too tired… I don’t wanna paint ducks…” Vinyl groaned like a filly, rolling over and covering her face.
“Vinyl, wake up!!” Octavia heard somepony speaking outside their compartment and she hopped against all odds that they wouldn’t open it. She pulled Vinyl down to the floor and managed to shove her under the seat just as the door slid open. The conductor looked down at them and raised an eyebrow at the grey earth pony spread out on the floor before stepping aside. A Royal Guard stepped in front of the door and looked down at her, his eyes narrowed.
“Octavia Philharmonica?”
“Y-yes?” She replied, her voice shaking.
“Where is Vinyl Scratch?” He asked, looking left and right in the compartment. The sound of a voice on his right caused him to turn slightly, nodding before returning his attention to the earth pony.
“Um… I don’t know?” She feigned ignorance under the piercing gaze of the stallion.
“Spiders!!” Vinyl screamed, scrambling out from underneath the seat, her mane covered in dust and her glasses lopsided. She began shaking her head furiously, her glasses dislodging and hitting Octavia on the nose. “They’re in my mane! Get them off! Get them off!”
A few small black objects were dislodged in the motion; the arachnids bounced off various surfaces. The window. The Guard’s face. The polished wood of Octavia’s cello case. The marelike scream that rang out in the cabin nearly deafened the ponies occupying it, shrill and piercing. Wincing in pain, Octavia looked away from the splintered window and over at Vinyl. The unicorn had frozen, a spider slowly crawling down her snout, her glasses hanging lopsided and one amethyst eye staring at the guard. The stallion’s eyes were wider than seemed physically possible, the irises crossed in an attempt to look at the large black spider on his nose.
The stallion screamed again, the same scream from before resonating once more. The spiders began scuttling towards him, their eight eyes focused on their target. He screamed again and fled the cabin, the spiders in close pursuit of him. The two mares left standing in the cabin exchanged a confused glance.
“What in the name of Celestia just happened?”
“I don’t know.” Vinyl heard the sound of charging hoofsteps. She poked her head out and her eyes widened at the trio of stallions running down the aisle towards their compartment. “That’s not good.”
She pulled her head inside and lifted Octavia’s cello case in her magic. “Tavi, I’m going to have to borrow this.”
“Don’t you dare…” Octavia’s eyes had narrowed in anger. The unicorn looked at the murderous expression in her face and towards the charging guards. She weighed her choices: murdered in a compartment on a train, strangled to death by spare cello strings or thrown into Celestia’s dungeons?
She never had to make the choice.
There was a strange rumbling sound and the train began to shake. The patrons on the train began screaming loudly, their cries being muffled almost instantly. The stallions slid to a stop, terror showing their eyes before they fled in the other direction. As the DJ glanced down in the opposite direction, Vinyl felt her jaw drop in awe.
Spiders.
Nothing but a black wall of spiders pouring towards them, consuming everypony in its path, pincers clicking and their red eyes glinting in the light. The sound was muted, similar to the sound of dry leaves in the wind. A pony tried to climb away, screaming before the wall of bugs poured over her, silencing her screams underneath thousands of black waving legs.
Vinyl yanked the cello back inside and slammed the compartment door shut, locking it and backing away from it as far back as she could. Octavia found herself in the tight embrace of her friend, the unicorns gaze petrified and staring at the door. The grey pony glanced up as the arachnid avalanche surged past the window, the sound they made as they rolled over the window was similar to the sound of rustling grass.
Octavia held onto Vinyl as the door began to buckle, the frame bending inwards slowly. The wood groaned and the glass window began to splinter at the edges. She began to pray to Celestia that the door would hold.
What a way to go… Octavia thought as the wood began to splinter. Drowned by spiders.
* * *
“Well played, little sister. I didn’t think you’d use the spiders so soon.” Princess Celestia frowned and removed her stallion figurines from the board. The miniature train continued its little trek towards the small town constructed out of small boxes and plastic building blocks. She debated her next move as her sister smirked at her from across the table.
“Please, sister. We did nothing but play board games when we were on the moon. Although…” Princess Luna glanced down at the two model pieces on the train. “We do not understand why you felt the need to meddle in the affairs of common ponies, simply for the sake of a game.”
“We needed something to do this afternoon that didn’t involve mingling with the upper class.” Celestia picked up a small statue from her assortment of pieces and placed it on the board near Ponyville. Luna’s eyes narrowed at that and she cleared her throat before speaking.
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” The princess of the night indicated the small piece she was placing onto the board near the miniature Ponyville. "Remember the last time?
“Oh Luna. What could possibly go wrong?”
