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A Tale of Two Mares

by CharmingChaos

Chapter 10: Sorting Everything Out

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Octavia sat on the den's sofa with Vinyl Scratch wedged into her lap, fast asleep. The seemingly petite mare slept like a rock and, apparently weighed as much as one, too.

Usually, it was Octavia who sat in Vinyl's lap, not the other way around, but with Vinyl being sick with some kind of head cold, Octavia had decided to play mother and take care of her.

Octavia stroked the tangled blue mane lovingly, running her hooves through the worst of the rat's nests, even though she knew Vinyl's hair was hopelessly untameable. Octavia smiled as she recalled chasing Vinyl around the house with a comb, shortly after they'd moved in together.

Naturally, it hadn't been funny at the time, but now, thinking of it, Octavia had to stifle a giggle of mirth to keep from waking her sleeping marefriend.

Vinyl shifted slightly, muttering something inaudible about wubs, and Octavia stopped playing with her hair to wrap voth hooves around Vinyl, rocking slightly as she hugged the sleeping mare warmly.


it was that slushy, muddy time of year when you weren't quite sure if it was spring or winter, and Vinyl, being the foalish, stubborn mare she was, had insisted on mucking through the mush on her own hooves instead of taking a taxi to one of her gigs a few nights prior.

Naturally, she had caught a chill, and the sniffle she arrived home with had quickly changed into a full-fledged cold, complete with headaches, a stuffed up nose, and and that sort of awful, dry cough that never seems to go away.

Octavia sighed. If only the silly mare would accept some sort of medication. But Vinyl always shrugged it off, with comments like, "Some of us grew up without the aid of common drug store bullshit," or "I can power through this, 'Tav. I'm not a weakling," which annoyed Octavia greatly.

Vinyl didn't appear to be at all bothered by the fact that she was sick-- actually, she seemed more miffed that Octavia refused to kiss her except on the cheek or horn than that she was racked with ear-shattering, headache inducing sneezing fits several times a day.

Octavia shook her head. That mare really needed to bet her priorities straight.

Vinyl Scratch moved again, stretching out all her legs in different directions. She blinked sleepily.

"Hey, babe. How long have I been out?"

"Only an hour or so, I think. But I couldn't check, because somepony was sitting on me the entire time." Octavia couldn't help adding.

Vinyl Scratch sniffed and squirmed into a better position. "I'm hungry, 'Tavi," she whined, making sure to sound extra weak and sickly. Octavia looked at her with a mixture of disgust and are-you-bucking-kidding-me?

"Vinyl, you just ate."

"I know, but that was an hour ago. And now I want a pb&j."

"A pea, bee, and what-now?" Octavia frowned. She thought she was familiar with all of Vinyl's odd foods, but this one was new.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "You know. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Like, every filly and colt's favourite meal?"

"Vinyl, you aren't a filly. And my parents raised me on different foods than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

"Doesn't mean I can't act like a filly." Vinyl pointed out. "By the way, I don't count whole grain pancakes and grey glue oatmeal as food."

Octavia harrumphed, but said, "Fine. But how can I get the ingredients for your peanut butter and jelly sandwich with you draped over my lap like some kind of furry blanket?"

"Oops." Vinyl tried to look guilty. "Anyways, what you need to get is peanut butter-- I think we have jam, right?-- and white bread. None of that healthy tastes-like-shit stuff you usually get. And with the peanut butter, just look for the jar with the most ingredients, okay? It has to have plenty of sugar and artificial flavouring in it." Vinyl's voice switched back from demanding to weak and pathetic. I just feel like *sniff* it would make me feel a little better. I *sniff* hate this damn cold."

"Okay, okay," Octavia pushed Vinyl off of her lap and stood up. "You do realize though, that I can see right through this whole, weakling act, right? As you would say, darling, if you would ever own up to it, it's complete bullshit."


"I still think this would be better on wonder bread," Vinyl spoke through a mouthful of Octavia's first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Octavia herself didn't like it too much-- "it's far too sweet,"-- but she did admit it was better without jam. Octavia glanced at the clock.

"It's ten o'clock, Sweetheart. You should really get to bed if you want to get better."

"But I'm not tired." Vinyl protested.

Octavia sighed. "Just finish your sandwich and go to bed, alright?"

"Yes mommy."


Vinyl Scratch woke up early the next morning with a stomach ache to compliment her other symptoms.

"Ooooomph," she moaned as she rolled over to face her partner. Octavia's eyes fluttered open and she yawned, showing off a surprisingly pink tongue.

"Morning, Sweetie. Feel any better?"

"No," Vinyl moaned. "Wors-- hang on, babe, I gotta puke."

With that, Vinyl leaned over the side of their bed and let the contents of her stomach spill onto the (thankfully uncarpeted) floor.

Octavia put a hoof on her forehead for a moment, just below her horn. "You're hot, Vinyl," she observed with a concerned look.

Vinyl wiped her lips and took a sip of water, but she smiled weakly. "I know, right? But thanks anyways."

"No, not that kind of hot." Octavia facehoofed. "Well, of course you are, but that's not what I meant. You have a raging fever, Sweetheart."

"No wonder I feel so awful." She clamped a hoof over her mouth. "If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom for a few years."

Octavia rolled out of bed and grabbed the tiny trashcan by the door, emptying it onto the floor. "Come on, Vinyl. We're going to see a doctor."


Forty five minutes later, the two ponies were seated in the waiting room at the Canterlot General Hospital. Vinyl's stomach, now empty, had calmed down a bit, but Octavia wasn't satisfied.

A deep purple mare with silvery blue hair led them to a room with the words 'Dr. Fetlock, General Physician' written in gold letters on the door.

Once inside, Vinyl lay on the table, and said dramatically, "Give it to me straight, Doc. How much time do I have?"

The nurse laughed. "With any luck, only a few minutes before Dr. Fetlock can come tell you himself. I'm Nurse Surehoof, if you need me before that, I'll be across the hall. Here." She stuck a thermometer in Vinyl's mouth. "If it beeps before he gets back, just give a shout and I'll be right over."

"Phtooey" Vinyl said after Nurse Surehoof left, spitting out the thermometer. Octavia merely shook her head and shoved it back in, frowning slightly.

Just then, Dr. Fetlock pushed open the door and stepped inside. "Well, well, well, what brings you ladies here today?" He asked cheerfully.

"Me," Vinyl moaned again for emphasis.

"She's had a bit of a cold all week, and this morning she woke me up by throwing up all over the bedroom floor." Octavia explained.

"Well, I'll just run a few tests and we'll see if we can't figure out what's wrong, all right?"

The thermometer beeped tinnily, and Dr. Fetlock pulled it out and looked at it. "Light fever, cold symptoms, nausea, correct?"

Vinyl nodded and sat up. Octavia pushed her back down.

"It appears that you have a bad cold, but I can't quite put mt hoof on the stomach ache. I'll have to take a urine sample to find out." Dr. Fetlock handed Vinyl a plastic cup. "The restroom is the third door on the left. Give the this to Nurse Surehoof when you're done, alright? And, by the way, we usually conduct a pregnancy test at the same time, if that's alright?"

Vinyl shrugged. "It's fine by me, but isn't, er, that impossible?"

"Almost," Dr. Fetlock replied, not meeting either of their eyes. Vinyl opened her mouth to object to what he was implying, but a look from Octavia silenced her. Vinyl and the doctor left the room, leaving Octavia alone with her thoughts.

Vinyl would never cheat on me. Octavia thought. Especially not with a colt. She practically is a colt herself. She wouldn't go near one of them for the world. Would she?

Next Chapter: Of Tears and the Unbelievable Truth Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 54 Minutes
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