Simple Music

by TheOneAndOnlyPonatic

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Romance
Length: 5494

Nighthsade spends some time in Ponyvile to figure out what he really wants in life, and date Vinyl Scratch.

Nightshade isn't one to complain. In fact, he isn't one to do anything. When his father demands more than he wants, Ponyvile seems like the best option, and when he meets Vinyl Scratch, things get even better.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-17 01:34:06 UTC

Chapter one

Nightshade couldn’t help but give a small smile as he watched the country side pass before him. It had taken a lot for him to make the decision of leaving home and moving to Ponyvile. He knew the ride would be another hour at least, and decided to put on his headphones and turn up his music. The taxi driver had started to talk to him early on, but after a few exchange in words, got the message that Nightshade was not much for conversation. In fact Nightshade wasn’t much for anything, and that was partly his reasoning for moving away from Canterlot. He could still remember the conversation he’d had with his father last night, word for word.

It was around midnight, and Nightshade was up listening to some music and doing a little free writing. His father had come downstairs, to see why he was up so late.

“Nothing much, just doing whatever.” Nightshade replied.

“Son…” His father sighed. “You need to go to bed. After all, you do have a very important meeting with the princess tomorrow.”

“Yea, with Celestia…”He muttered under his breath.

“What was that!” His father demanded.

“Nothing, never mind.”

Nightshade looked like his father in many ways. Their both unicorns, and have the same cerulean blue coat. However, Nightshade has a longer mane, and it’s black instead of some mix of yellow and green. They were also differed in goals. Nightshade’s father was obsessed with rising to the top of the Canterlot food chain. Nightshade however, simply wanted to do whatever he felt like doing and was well adapt at almost everything. That was one of the reasons his cutie mark resembled a book.

“Good. That’s what I thought. Now go to bed.”

“…no…” Nightshade said as he ascended the stairs.

“I’m sorry? What was that?” His father asked.

“I said no. I’m tired of doing what you want me to do. I just want to do my own thing. I don’t care about my meeting with Celestia, it sounds to stressful.”

“Oh yea? Until you leave my house, you do what I say. Unless, that is, you want to be cut off.” Nightshade’s father had been funding all of his hobbies, whatever they included.

“Fine man. I don’t need your help. I’ll just live on my own.”

“Oh yea? Where’re you going to live, hmm? You know what it takes to live in Canterlot? It takes money, and connections, both of which you now have neither of.”

Which now brings us back to the taxi headed for Ponyvile. Nightshade figured that if he couldn’t live in Canterlot, then Ponyvile was the next best thing. Also, the town seemed quite to him, and all he really needed was some down time.

He continued to think about his future as he listened to his music. The pony he was listening was none other than Dj-Pon3. It was part of her instrumental series, and the beats were nice and soft. The mellow music coupled with the nice warmth of the taxi made Nightshade drift off to sleep.

“Hey buddy! Hey yo pal! We’re here.” The taxi driver instructed.

“What’s that?” Nightshade asked; as he started slowly wake up.

“I said we’re here. That’ll be ten bits.”

“Oh. Okay, here ya go.” Nightshade thanked as he handed over the money.

“Thanks. By the way, if ya don’t mind me asking, who were you listening to?”

“Dj-Pon3, or Vinyl Scratch. This is her instrumental album.”

“Well, now I see why you moved out here.” The driver said with a smug smile.

“Huh? What reason is that?” Nightshade asked.

“No reason, you’ll see soon enough!” The driver shouted as he raced away.

Deciding not to dwell on whatever the taxi driver meant, Nightshade made his way into town. The first thing he noticed was that everything had a silent buzz to it. There were tons of ponies, all moving around and talking to each other, however it was a lot more contained and slightly toned down than in Canterlot.

Happy that no pony was bothering him, he took out his headphones and turned up his music. However, no sooner had he selected a song when something pink came crashing into him. When he opened his eyes, there was a pink pony smiling on top of him.

“Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?” She asked enthusiastically.

“Uh, Nightshade.”

“Pinkie Pie! Would yawl please stop knocking down our new residences?”

“Sorry Applejack, but you know how I get when some new pony moves in.”

Applejack walked over to Nightshade, and offered to help him up.

“Thanks…Applejack, right?” Nightshade asked.

“Yep, that’s right. And sorry about Pinkie. She can get a little…intense.”

“Hey no worries, am I right.”

“Yep.”

The conversation started to die down, and Nightshade started to get nervous. He always did this whenever he met some pony new. The conversation would start out good but always collapse in the middle. He was about to leave, but Pinkie Pie wanted to keep the conversation going.

“So what brings you to Ponyvile Nightshade?”

“Well, you know. Canterlot becomes just a bit too much after a while.”

“Don’t I know it. When I was younger, I moved to Manehatten with my aunt and uncle.”

“What made you come back?”

“It just…didn’t feel like home.”

“Yea…”

Once again, there was that pause.

“Where are you staying?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“On the corner of Hay and Stack. I don’t actually know where that is, could one of you show me?” Nightshade asked.

“Of course I can partner. Just follow me.” Applejack said as she walked down the street.

The walk to Nightshade’s new apartment was one of the most awkward ones in his life. Applejack had tried about a thousand times to talk with him, but Nightshade would just respond with yes or no. After a while, he just put on his headphones and listened to his music. It had become one of his newer passions. Music just made everything seem so…serine even on a normal day.

“Well, here we are.” Applejack said upon reaching the apartment.

“Thanks.” Nightshade said as he started to go inside. However he stopped just short of entering, thinking it might be rude to just leave. When he turned around to ask Applejack if she wanted to come in, she was already on the other side of the street. Oh well…He thought. I’ll just be better next time.

His apartment was on the top floor, and his room was medium containing one bedroom, one bathroom, one kitchen, and one living room. His father made the arrangement. He said he would pay for the first month, but after that, it was up to Nightshade. Not knowing what to do, and not really wanting to do anything, Nightshade walked over to the living room window, and began to listen to his music. The sun was setting giving Ponyvile a yellow hue and the music he was listening to really gave it some life. He started to doze off again when a knock came on his door.

Walking over rather sluggishly, he opened it. And who should be standing on the other side but one of the most famous musicians in Canterlot. Octavia, the cellist for the Royal Canterlot Orchestra.

“Hello there. My name is Octavia, and I live just a few doors down.”

Nightshade was unable to respond.

“Umm…yes. Anyway, I just wanted to say welcome to the neighborhood.”

“You’re…Octavia.” Nightshade finally said.

“Umm…yes.” Octavia said.

“Awe man! I have like, all your albums!”

“R-really? Even my solo albums?”

“Yes man! Your solo albums have a nice refreshing edge to the classical theme. Would you like to come inside?”

“Well…why not.” Octavia said as she moved over to the couch.

“So what are you doing now?” Nightshade asked as he went to sit across from her.

“Nothing much really. Just taking a break for now, I suppose.”

“Well, I hope you come back with something soon. Have you ever thought about trying dubstep.”

This suggestion seemed to set Octavia on edge for some reason. Like the mere mention of the new phenomenon filled her with molten lava. After a few minutes of awkward silence she finally told him she hadn’t.

“Well hey, that’s okay.” Nightshade laughed nervously. “You just got to do what you want, right.”

This seemed to make Octavia cheer up a bit. “Right. “

They talked for a few hours about music and Canterlot. It was so easy for him to talk to her, like they had a connection he hadn’t had with any pony in a long time. Pretty soon though, the moon was in the sky. Nightshade glanced out the window and decided that his guest had stayed long enough. After all, nighttime is when he’s most productive.

“Well, hey, it’s getting kind of late, and I have some work to do.” Nightshade apologized.

“Oh, I see. What is it that you do again?” Octavia asked.

“Ya know. A little of this and a little of that.”

“Okay…Well I should be getting back as well. My roommate will be waking up soon, and I’m sure she’ll want some company before work.”

“Oh really? Who’s your roommate?” Nightshade asked curiously.

“Her name is Vinyl Scratch.”

Nightshade was pretty sure he had just died for a few minutes. The, Vinyl Scratch, was living just a few doors down from him. He’d thought his father had chosen this spot as some sort of punishment, but if he only knew.

“Oh really, that’s cool.” He replied as nonchalantly as possible.

“Yes, I suppose it is. Would you like to meet her?”

Nightshade practically ran to the door, gesturing for Octavia to lead the way. He still couldn’t believe that Vinyl Scratch was in his apartment building. I’m so lucky! He thought as Octavia led him down the hall.

When they got to the apartment Nightshade was just a little confused. The room was spotless. Even the kitchen table was clean, and the dishes were all put away. He gave Octavia a puzzling look, and she gave him one right back.

“What?” She asked.

“Umm nothing I guess.” Nightshade replied. “It’s just I thought…you know…”

“Know what?” Octavia asked.

“Well…you are living with Dj-Pon3 so I thought…well, I thought the place might be a little trashed.” He admitted.

“Oh well, I suppose that is every ponies first thought.” Octavia said.

“Hey Tavi! Is breakfast done?” A voice shouted from the second bedroom down the hall.

“No, I’ve been talking with the new neighbor.”

“Oh, really? Is he like the last guy? You know, the one with only one eye who had that telescope and tried to-“ Vinyl stopped short when she saw Nightshade. “Oh, uh, I didn’t know we’d be having company over.” Her expression told him that this was an unwelcome surprise, but Nightshade was determined to make a good first impression. Just don’t fanboy out. He thought.

“I…you…are…” Good start man.

“Ya huh.” Vinyl said as she sat down. Octavia was at the stove trying to hold back her laughter.

“It’s just…that…you…”

“Listen kid. I don’t have all day, so if you want an autograph just spit it out.”

“Your music…” Nightshade began. “…is just so freaking awesome.” He finished rather fast.

Octavia handed Vinyl some pancakes before she sat down next to her and started reading the paper. Both were clearly unimpressed with Nightshade’s revelation after listening to Vinyl. It took him a few minutes to figure out why, until he saw the giant bag of fan mail sitting in the corner.

“I’m guessing you get that a lot though huh?”

“Kid, you have no idea.” Vinyl replied still focused on her food.

“Come now Vinyl. At least pay him some attention. After all he is our new neighbor.” Octavia nudged.

“Can’t. Eating.” She got out in between bites.

“Well, it’s obvious who the third wheel in this room is.” Nightshade interrupted. “But before I go, anything happening right now?”

“What?” Vinyl asked giving in to Octavia’s nagging.

“I mean does Ponyvile have a good night life?”

“Vinyl is doing a show at the town REC Center tonight.” Octavia said. “We were about to head out after breakfast. Would you like to accompany us?”

Nightshade had to take one look at Vinyl to realize his company would not be welcome. I don’t want to be rude to Octavia though. He thought.

“I’ll meet you guys there. I just need to take care of some work first.” He lied.

“Alright then. The show starts at eleven and ends at two.” Octavia informed.

Nightshade thanked her for the information and went back to his apartment. He looked at the clock that hung in his kitchen. It was ten thirty now which meant he had at least another fifteen minutes before he needed to head out. He could already hear Vinyl and Octavia leaving their apartment and rushing downstairs.

The concert was great. Vinyl really knew how to get the audience going. First she started out with a light set, then let everything build up little by little. The middle of the show was so full of energy, Nightshade was almost certain it could power the sun. The best part was that the the crowd's mood never slumped. Every time Nightshade thought the atmosphere had deepened, Vinyl would always pick it up by instructing every pony to do some sort of action or shouting it was time to party. At the end Vinyl thanked every pony for coming out to see her as she walked off stage.

Octavia spotted Nightshade just as he was leaving and asked him to stay after for a little bit. Not wanting to be rude he agreed. It also didn’t hurt that he’d have another chance to talk to Vinyl again.

Backstage was a buzz of activity. All the backstage ponies were running around, unplugging this and that and trying to find the proper place for that wire. It was a made house, and Nightshade was too afraid of accidently bumping into some pony. Octavia was also hanging back.

“Aren’t you going to go get her?” He asked.

“No, she’ll be out in a minute. Vinyl hates the energy of backstage.” No sooner had she finished than did Vinyl emerge looking really pumped up.

“Oh man, that was intense!” She shouted.

“Yea it was awesome!” Nightshade chimed in.

“Oh…hey kid.” She acknowledged as the energy started to seep out of her body.

“I invited Nightshade to walk home with us.” Octavia explained.

“Yea great…” She replied seeming less than enthused.

So the three of them left the REC Center and proceeded to make their way to the apartment complex. They were three blocks away when the first flash came.

“What was that?” Nightshade asked looking around.

A second flash.

“Reporters.” Vinyl whispered.

“How come they didn’t mob us at the apartment?” Nightshade wondered aloud.

“They only come when there’s a concert.” Octavia explained.

The reporters apparently got tired of being shy and started to mob the trio with a series of camera flashes and questions. The light from the cameras became blinding but Nightshade could still see the girls getting their full attention. He knew he had to do something, but what? In the corner of his he saw a small purple dragon lying on the back of some purple pony. Strange, but it gave him an idea.

All at once the reporters ran away. A confused Octavia and Vinyl Scratch looked at each other in confusion. When they turned around, they understood what the reporters had been afraid of. Behind them was a giant ferocious looking dragon. They stood frozen in fear.

“Are they gone?” Nightshade asked from the curb.

“Nightshade what are doing? Run and get help.” Octavia commanded.

“For what?”

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe the giant freaking dragon!” Vinyl shouted.

“Oh right. Hang on let me handle this.” Nightshade dipped his head and allowed the magic to flow back into him.

“W-what was that?” Vinyl asked.

“It was an illusion I conjured up. No big deal.” He smiled.

“No big deal? That was awesome!”

That was the last time the reporters had bothered them that night. Just to be safe though, they took the long way around. Vinyl started to go nuts about how next time Nightshade should do one of his allusions at her next concert. They started to talk about what illusion would fit best with which song, and continued it when they reached the apartment. It had to late for Octavia, and eventually, Nightshade as well. After bidding them both a good night, he went back to the window, which overlooked Ponyvile. Yep, everything’s going to work out just fine. Nightshade thought as he drifted off to sleep, music player in hand.

Chapter two

Nightshade awoke to the sudden screeching of his alarm clock. He promptly hit the snooze button and drifted back in the sanctuary of his dreams, where no pony expected anything of him. Dreams for Nightshade had always been his greatest source of escape from a world that was constantly shifting. He had started to rekindle the dream he was having about him and Vinyl playing up the Grand Galloping Gala, when the alarm sliced through his mind once more. Nightshade slowly started to rise out of bed, reluctant to get started on the long day that awaited him.

It had been one week since his arrival in Ponyvile. During that time, he had spent most of it with Vinyl figuring out the best way to utilize his astounding ability to create life like illusions, and place them in her show. Nightshade couldn’t help but smile as he remembered all the wild things she had come up with.

“A dragon the spits out bubbles, that burst into sound!”  She had dreamed up one particular late night.

“Yea I could see that. The bubbles could explode with time to the beat.” Nightshade had agreed. They ended up planning so late that he had to put her to bed.

Except today wouldn’t be about him and Vinyl. No, today would be all about him and Octavia. After spending a week in Ponyvile, and not really getting out to see the town, she had made him promise to spend the day with her.

“You need to get out. Your shut in life style is quite unhealthy.” She had argued.

He had tried to tell her that he’d seen plenty of Ponyvile from the tranquility of the apartment building’s roof. He goes out at least once a day to watch the setting sun over Ponyvile, and the rise of the moon. It was the only spot he felt comfortable in, and honestly the only place he wanted to be. Nightshade’s original purpose for even coming to the small town was to escape the rush of Canterlot. However, Ponyvile seemed to be in it’s own rush, even when it didn’t seem like it.

Octavia, of course, didn’t want to hear any of it, which was one of the reasons Nightshade was making his way down the hall at nine o’clock in the morning. He knocked on his neighbor’s door and after a few minutes no pony had answered. Strange. Octavia doesn’t seem like the type of pony to sleep in. Nightshade continued to wonder what was keeping her as he knocked three more times.

The door finally swung open practically throwing him backwards onto the floor. He was surprised to see, not Octavia waiting to greet him, but Vinyl instead. She looked exhausted, like she had just played a thousand concerts in one night.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” She yawned.

“Like, nine o’clock.”

“So then why are you up?” She asked feeling a bit more awake now.

“Why else would a pony wake up at this most unholy of hours? To go out with your psychotic roommate so she’ll stop bugging me.”

“What? Oh, that might explain the note on the fridge…and stove, and TV.”

“What note?”

Vinyl started to read aloud a note that was taped to her hoof, “Went out for emergency band practice. Won’t be home until late. Please take Nightshade out. Octavia.”

Nightshade started to feel a lightness enter his body. He would get to spend the day with Vinyl, which most likely meant not going anywhere at all. He started to enter the apartment when Vinyl put a hoof in his way, blocking the entrance.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Inside?”

“I believe the note says we need to go out.”

“Hey, you said it, not me.” Nightshade teased.

“Yea huh. Get your stuff and let’s go.”

When the duo got outside Nightshade took in a deep breath. It was summer, and the air in Ponyvile was a lot cleaner than that of Canterlot’s. He closed his eyes and tried to listen for the town’s tempo. Everything seems to be nice and paced today. He thought. When Nightshade reopened his eyes, he saw Vinyl staring at him.

“Sorry, sorry.” He apologized.

“For what? Taking in the feel?”

“Well…yea.”

“Dude, you need to chill. Why’d you get so upset?”

“It’s kind of a long story. I’ll maybe tell you sometime.”

“Alright, I’ll hold you to it.” She said as she started to pull out her signature glasses.  Without giving it a thought, Nightshade let out a sigh, which made Vinyl freeze.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m sorry.”

This made Vinyl let out a little sigh of her own. “C’mon man, just be real with me.”

Nightshade started to shift in place a little bit. It always made him feel uncomfortable when confronting others.

“It’s just that…I kinda think you look better without them…” He drifted off.

Vinyl’s face started to get red. She quickly stashed her glasses back into her saddlebag, and then started to walk down the street forcing Nightshade to break out into a trot just to keep up.

“Hey, where are we going?” Nightshade asked.

“Sugar Cube Corner. I need to eat something.”

“Okay. Is the place any good?”

“See for yourself.” Vinyl said as she stopped in front of very edible looking building. The structure looked like it was made out of ice cream, with the roof having the same color as chocolate sauce. Nightshade was in awe that a building such as this even existed as he entered.

A thousand different aromas circling the inside instantly hit Nightshade. He was able to smell muffins, cookies, cake, and best of all, pie. His concentration was instantly broken, however, by an overly happy voice he’d herd once before.

“Nightshade! I was wondering when I’d get to see you again.” Pinkie Pie skipped over.

“Hi…Pinkie Pie, right?”

“Yep! I see you brought a friend as well.” She winked.

“More like she brought me.” He mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing, don’t worry about it. I should really get back to Vinyl.” Nightshade started to look around for her in order to escape his current conversation. He spotted her looking over the pastries and walked over. Vinyl was staring at what appeared to be a blue berry muffin.

“Is that what you want?” He asked, startling her a little by his sudden approach.

“Yea right, look at the price. Sorry but I don’t have ten bits to just blow on a muffin.”

“Well I am supposed to be taking you out right now, so I’ll just pay for it.” He started to reach for his saddlebag when she smacked his hoof away.

“C’mon, don’t spend money on me.”

“Why not?”

“Cause it’d kind of feel like I’m…” She drifted off a little.

“Like you’re what?”

“Like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“It’s just a muffin Vinyl. Besides, I brought my money for you. Otherwise I would have just left it at home.” She started to blush again and turned away.

“I’ll go get us a table.” She hurried outside.

Nightshade paid for the muffin and a bagel for himself. He’d started to feel hungry and bought it, praying that this was the only thing Vinyl wanted. After all, he’d only brought so much with him when he moved out to Ponyvile.

When he got outside he quickly spotted Vinyl sitting at a table that was near the fence gate in front of the restaurant. She appeared to be listening to some music, and therefore, didn’t notice Nightshade’s approach once again.

“Who’re you listening too?” He asked when he sat down.

“Dude!” She jumped. “You’ve got to stop sneaking up on me.”

“Sorry.” He said as he handed her the muffin. She took it greedily, and began to eat. Nightshade took the opportunity to eat his bagel as well, and thus began a quite, ten-minute lunch. After they had both finished, Nightshade looked up and saw that she was still listening to some music, her magenta eyes lost deep in thought.

“Hey Vinyl?”

“Huh? Yea, what is it?”

“What are you thinking about?”

“N-nothing, nothing at all.” She rushed.

“Ok, fine, that’s cool…who are you listening to?” Nightshade asked again.

“Octavia. This is part of her instrumental album.”

“I love that album! Do you mind?”

“Knock your self out.” She passed him an ear bud.

They sat at their table for another fifteen-minutes, just listening to Octavia’s masterfully put together songs. It was really an amazing thing to hear, and showed how deep her passion truly went. When the album had finally ended they both realized the time and left.

They began to walk down the street and Vinyl started to point out the various shops, ponies, and best spots to hang. They started to pass by the elementary school when she stopped. Curious as to what could have slowed her down, Nightshade took a step forward. The entire class was outside, but all the students seemed downtrodden. Vinyl began to walk up to the pony that was clearly the teacher.

“What’s up Cheerilee?” Vinyl asked.

“I’m afraid that our music lesson for the day is canceled. The instruments that I had ordered won’t be in for another week unfortunately.”

“Well…maybe Nightshade can help.” Vinyl shoved him forward. He turned to glare at her just wondering why. He was sure they’d had a discussion about how he hated being noticed. However, seeing no other way out of it, he decided to take charge.

“Alright students, I want you all to split up into two even groups.” All the students started to shift into groups, confused by the sudden change of events. Once they had split up into the two groupings, Nightshade continued. “Good job. Now for the group on the left, I want you to do this.” He stomped his hoof on the ground. “Then wait for two beats or pauses. You may continue after the group on the right does this.” He stomped his hoof twice rapidly on the ground. “Now try it.” The students played along, and then after a while started to really get into it. “Can any pony tell me what you just learned?” Nightshade asked. A single hoof flew in the air. “Yes, you.”

“We learned a half note and an eighth note.” The little filly squeaked.

“Right, exactly. Thank you miss…”

“Sweetie Belle.”

“Thank you miss Sweetie Belle.” Nightshade checked his watch and noticed that it was almost ten-thirty and decide to hand the lesson back off to Cheerilee.

“Thank you very much mister…”

“Nightshade.”

“Thank you mister Nightshade. I don’t what I would have done without you. Would like to come back again next week at this time to give another lesson?”

“Sure, why not.” He saw all the kids leaning in, waiting for the moment where he accepts. Nightshade leaned in and asked if he would get paid. Cheerilee said yes and he officially accepted.

When he got back to Vinyl, she had a small grin on her face. “What?” Nightshade asked.

“Nothing…I just didn’t know you were such a natural teacher is all.”

“Neither did I.”

“Well hey!” She nudged. “Now you’ve got a job, which means there won’t be any future excuses to not ask me out again.”

“So there will be a next time?” Nightshade asked, feeling bold.

“Well…I wouldn’t really even call this a first time. After all, you did basically drag me into a job interview.” She teased.

“Yea, one that you unknowingly brought me to.” He challenged a little defensively.

“Yea, I guess I did.” They started to walk a few more blocks before Vinyl turned around.

“Where are we going now?”

“You’ll see when we get there.” She promised.

They walked south of town for about an hour. The trip to the destination required a small hike, which Nightshade was defiantly not up for. He hated the woods. Too many bugs in his opinion, always buzzing around his head. He tried to keep his mood from showing until they had reached their destination, which wasn’t an easy thing for him to do. Nightshade was usually prone to overreacting to certain situations.

Vinyl finally stopped at the top of a cliff and sat down. When Nightshade had come to join her, he was stunned by the view. The cliff was overlooking thousands of apple trees with the sun reflecting perfectly off of each apple, enhancing their color.

“Where are we?” Nightshade asked when he sat down.

“This is just where I come to thinks some times.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know. Life, music…relationships.”

“Oh…okay. Do you want to listen to some music?” He asked as he pulled out his mp3. Luckily he’d brought his headphone splitter, so they would each get to listen in full. He turned on some chillstep, and after a while Vinyl leaned on him and fell asleep. Feeling kind of tired himself Nightshade did the same.

Nightshade was the first to wake up. He’d heard a bird screech in the distance, which brought him back reality. It took him a while to remember what had happened. He glanced over to his shoulder and saw that Vinyl was still there. She looked so at peace that it pained Nightshade to wake her up. So he waited for a while, letting the warmth of the moment sink in.

“Hey Vinyl.” He nudged.

“Wha-? What time is it?” She asked.

“Almost four. We should probably go back.”

“Can’t we just stay here for a little while longer? I had such an awesome time today.”

“Yea me too. And trust me, I don’t want to leave anymore than you do, but Octavia might be back and wondering where we are. “

“Fine.”

They started the trek back to Ponyvile. Most of the ponies in town were inside eating or just hanging out with their families. Vinyl was walking really close to Nightshade, which he didn’t mind. They finally reached their apartment and arrived on the top floor. When they came to Vinyl’s apartment, Nightshade stopped and turned to face her.

“Today was nice.”

“Yea, it was.”She smiled.

“Do you think that maybe this is going a little too fast?”

“Yea, actually, I was.” She admitted. “But then I thought about how much time we had been spending beforehand, and how this relationship just feels…” She struggled to find the words.

“Natural?” He offered.

“Yea, natural.” When she opened the door Octavia was inside eating a salad.

“Good evening you two. Nightshade, did Vinyl show you the sights alright?” She asked as they entered.

“Yea, she did alright.” He teased

Octavia didn’t seem to notice and continued speaking. “Good, I’m very pleased to hear it. Did you also acquire the job I had set up for you?”

“What job?”

“The one with Cheerilee.”

Nightshade turned to Vinyl and remembered the conversation they’d had before. “I guess I really did drag you to my interview.”

“Yea…sorry about that. Me and Cheerilee thought it would be better to put you on the spot.” Vinyl admitted.

“Well it worked. I guess.” He looked at the clock that sat above their couch. It was almost five-thirty, and Nightshade wanted to be alone for a while. “Alright, well, hey it’s getting late, and I should go.”

“I’ll come with.” Vinyl offered. Not wanting to turn away the pony he was trying to build a relationship with, Nightshade agreed.

When they got to his door, Vinyl gave him a warm embrace. Nightshade returned the action and felt his blood being replaced by air.

“Hey. This isn’t going to get complicated right?” He asked while he held her.

“What? No way man.” She promised.

Nightshade was sure he could have held her forever, but unfortunately, dinner did call. They said their so longs and Nightshade entered his apartment. When he got to his room, he lied down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about his day and his future. He also started to recall the argument with his father, which brought him back to one conclusion.

No complications. Nightshade thought as he put on his headphones, and turned up his music. No complications.

Chapter three

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter four

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter five

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter six

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter seven

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.