No Need to Hesitate

Dinner had been wonderful. Octavia had taken Vinyl to one of her favorite restaurants in Canterlot – an expensive and classy establishment that specialized in exotic cuisine. The meal had started with a soup derived from an old zebra recipe, accompanied by a salad composed of greens picked fresh from the fields at the northern foot of Canterlot Mountain. The main course was a pasta made from grains imported from Gryphonia. This went with a twelve-year-old bottle of Baltimare merlot, and was followed by a dessert of rich red velvet cake, all topped off by a spot of coffee, supposedly harvested from an ancient grove, the location of which was only known by a hoofful of ponies living and a tribe of deer. The entire meal was delicious. And, as a bonus, it made Vinyl’s mouth taste amazing.

Octavia lay on top of Vinyl in the cellist’s bed. She slurped greedily at Vinyl’s mouth, savoring the flavors that flowed into her own from her lover’s breath and saliva and contending tongue. The earth pony’s tongue danced around her mouth, exploring and caressing and appreciating every corner. Inhaling deeply, Octavia pulled closer, forcing herself as far into the other pony’s mouth as she could. Vinyl responded by wrapping her hooves tighter around Octavia’s back, pulling their bodies together tightly. Octavia squirmed impulsively, aroused by the friction and the heat against her belly. Vinyl moaned at the contact, sending those beautiful reverberations into Octavia’s mouth that sent joy dancing across her brain and lit a fire between her legs. Octavia’s tail swished and twitched beyond her control, and her juices began to trickle out of her nether lips and pool on Vinyl’s stomach. Octavia finally released the head in her hooves, and the two mares broke away, gasping loudly.

“You really like the kissing stuff, huh?” Vinyl said as she began to catch her breath. Octavia gazed down at her with a ravenous smile. She leaned in with a soft moan, angling for Vinyl’s neck.

“Well, you’re just so much fun to kiss, sweetie,” she crooned. Her lips latched onto Vinyl’s neck, gently massaging the tender flesh. They traveled upwards towards her jaw, nibbling and tongue licking as they went. Vinyl sighed and went slack under Octavia’s ministrations, grinning as she leaned back.

Octavia wasn’t lying. As much as she loved the finale of this opera that was their love-making, the opening number held just as much appeal to her. She loved the first moment when their lips touched, gently reacquainting with each other. She loved the way Vinyl stroked her mane and held her head, the way she always let the kiss bask in its own intimacy before she slipped her tongue inside the earth pony’s mouth. She loved the sensations that coursed through her from her lips into the rest of her body, priming her for what came next, and feeling as she melted from a prim and proper mare into a hot, panting mess in time with her partner. She loved the mare beneath her, so much that when their bodies came together – first as gentle touches and caresses, but soon escalating to primal grinding and groping – it always felt as though it would sweep her out to sea.

“Hey, I’m not one to complain about mackin’,” Vinyl interrupted her affectionate appreciation of her body. “But right now I’ve got something else for you to do.”

“Hmm?” Octavia hummed into Vinyl’s skin. A second later, she moaned when Vinyl shifted underneath her, and she felt pressure against her nether lips. Octavia raised her head and fixed Vinyl with a gaze of mock-reprimanding.

“Come on, Tavi. I didn’t get one this big just so I could have all the fun,” Vinyl smirked. “Hurry up and get up there.”

Octavia sighed, unable to restrain a wry smile. “Oh, alright already. No need to be in such a rush.”

Octavia turned her attention to the big black dildo gently prodding her crotch. One of its two ends was already deeply buried in Vinyl’s pussy, and the other end quivered slightly each time the unicorn’s muscles twitched. The earth mare rested a hoof against the tip that was angled at her head and felt up and down its length, observing its texture. She couldn’t hold back another grin as she gave the fake phallus a twist, turning the end inside the unicorn, causing her to groan loudly.

“No fair,” Vinyl gasped. “Not complaining, but no fair.”

“Aw, poor thing,” Octavia consoled her with a chuckle. She gently stroked its length a few more times, before giving it another, more deliberate twist. Vinyl’s eyes squeezed shut as she gave out a long moan. “This is kind of fun,” Octavia commented, giving the plastic piece a few more experimental thrusts. “It’s like I’ve got your control stick in my hoof.”

“Oh I’m gonna get you for this,” Vinyl groaned. “Come on, I’m gon-AH- give it to you so hard.”

Octavia chuckled again. “I certainly hope so,” she whispered. She gave Vinyl’s belly a gentle kiss, then lifted herself onto her hind legs, balancing with the effortless grace afforded by her art. She positioned herself over the sex toy and lowered herself until its tip poked against her folds. “Ready?” she asked, looking to her partner.

“Never readier,” Vinyl growled, grabbing her partner’s flanks in her hooves and pressing against Octavia’s cutie marks, eliciting a groan from the earth pony. Octavia smiled down at Vinyl, and bent her knees, lowering herself onto the sizable shaft. She gasped as the head pushed her walls apart, then groaned as she slowly worked her way down, supported by the hooves against her rump. Sighs and shivers accompanied her descent as her vagina stretched to accommodate the girth, and more than once her walls subconsciously clenched around it. The friction between the dildo and her tight tunnel pushed the other end even farther into Vinyl’s hole as she went, causing the unicorn to moan along with her.

Finally, she reached the bottom of her descent, and her half of the dildo was nestled entirely within her. Only a small segment in the middle of the toy was still visible, separating the mares’ lips. Octavia panted lightly as tremors of pleasure continued to travel up from her crotch. Vinyl was smirking up at her, still gently caressing her flanks, but her eyes were already threatening to roll back as she let out a contented sigh.

“Did you pick the thickest one you could find?” Octavia tried to appear serious as she chided Vinyl, but between her panting, the blush she felt in her cheeks, and the way her lower body twitched and quivered around the plastic dick, she doubted she succeeded.

“Only the best, my dear,” Vinyl answered with a smirk. She prodded Octavia’s flanks harder. “Come on, take it for a spin.” Octavia gulped, and leaned forward. She placed her forehooves against Vinyl’s chest to brace herself, and began to lift her rear end away from the bed. Vinyl’s hooves helped push her upwards, extracting more and more of the dildo from her tunnel. Once again, Octavia’s tightness worked its influence, and the dildo began to draw out of Vinyl’s snatch as well. Octavia paused when only the dildo’s tip remained inside her, and about half of the other end inside Vinyl. Closing her eyes, she let her weight fall, and the plastic penis forced itself back into both mares. They both moaned loudly at the sudden thrust.

“Do it again!” Vinyl cheered, her head falling back against the pillow. Octavia took a moment while her legs stopped shaking. Then, she once again lifted herself into the air and descended, sending another firm stroke of pleasure into both of their nethers. She began humping up and down at a slow and steady rhythm, savoring the tantalizing tension of the climb and the punctuated penetration of the fall. As she went on and both mares’ walls adjusted to the sizable instrument sliding in and out of them, she began to move faster, blending the distinct sensations into a single stroke of stimulation.

Although each thrust caused the dildo to shift and push against Vinyl’s pussy, the majority of the plastic cock’s rampaging occurred within Octavia’s. As such, Vinyl was having a much easier time not being swept up in pleasure than Octavia. Though the unicorn moaned along with each thrust, she continued to smirk up at Octavia, her eyes drinking in the sight of the earth mare eagerly impaling herself on her dick. Octavia was more than happy to put on a show for her lover. She sat upright, lifting herself with just her hind legs and the support of Vinyl’s groping hooves. She closed her eyes and threw her head back, letting her mane cascade behind her, and drew her forehooves across her chest. She moaned louder and lustier as she fucked herself harder for her own pleasure and her partner’s gaze. Between the feeling of the dildo splitting her and the thought of Vinyl leering at her licentious display, she was on the verge of losing herself. Then she heard the unicorn chuckle.

“Wow, you really are loving it, aren’t you?” The statement was accompanied by a sharp slap against her flank. Octavia shrieked in surprise and begrudging pleasure. But while she could work with the spanking, Vinyl’s words filled her with a kind of indignation, breaking her trance. She stared down at the unicorn’s lecherous grin, and was suddenly overcome by an urge to wipe it from her face. Releasing her weight, she slid back down the length of the dildo, taking it into herself with a groan. Then she reached a hoof between her legs and grabbed hold of it, bracing it into herself. When she stood next, it went with her, drawing out of Vinyl to the tip. Vinyl had only time to register a surprised and shuddering gasp at the feeling of her tunnel emptying before Octavia dropped herself again, ramming the toy into Vinyl’s wet hole. Vinyl arched her back against the bed and panted loudly as Octavia resumed her previous pace, plowing her partner again and again with her newly leveraged instrument. Octavia grinned wickedly as she fucked her lover hard, concerns for her own pleasure lost in the moans and contortions of the pony beneath her.

“Who’s loving it now?” Octavia jeered as she stuck the unicorn relentlessly.

“Me!” Vinyl admitted eagerly, weakly waving a hoof. “I am! I’m loving it!”

“Well then, why don’t you take it harder!” Octavia rewarded her partner’s enthusiasm by speeding up, pistoning her hips faster and faster. The dildo drew indecent sounds from Vinyl’s soaking hole as it rammed into her, which mingled beautifully with the unicorn’s increasingly desperate panting. Vinyl’s lower body began thrusting in time with her pumping, desperately trying to drive each one deeper. Octavia chuckled to herself as she watched Vinyl’s tongue roll out of her mouth and her forelegs draw together, recognizing the signs of her lover’s impending orgasm.

'You’re all mine now, my swe-AH' Octavia gasped as Vinyl’s horn was suddenly wrapped in a blue glow, and she felt a gentle force lift her rump into the air. A second later, it pulled her back down hard. The force of the fall was so great that it forced the dildo deeper into both mares than before, and their pussy lips met completely, swallowing the toy between them. Octavia was so lost in her own shriek of pleasure that she didn’t notice the blue glow emanating from their joined crotches. It was soon called to her attention, as she felt the dildo begin to quickly slide back and forth inside her. Gripped in Vinyl’s magic, it rocketed into one and out of the other, bouncing between their cervixes like a humming bird on a sugar rush.

Octavia lost herself, only able to clench the bed sheets in her hooves as the plastic cock rampaged between them, and Vinyl’s spasming body rubbed against her lips and teased her clitoris. Even above her screams, she heard Vinyl’s groans and gasps, filling her ears and pushing her to the edge even faster. Trying to cling to some form of control of the situation, she propped herself up as far as she could and reached forward, extending a hoof to rub her lover’s clit. Vinyl’s head fell back with a forceful grunt from the added stimulation. Octavia began to draw her hoof in circles around the clit, never losing contact with the sensitive button. With increasing frequency, she brushed against her own nub, causing her to shudder and buck against the plastic phallus that was drilling into her. Barely hanging on against her own pleasure, she half-smirked as she watched Vinyl being swept away by their combined efforts.

Suddenly, Vinyl’s horn began to glow brighter, and the pistoning penis miraculously began to speed up. At the same time, the same luminescent glow wrapped itself around both ponies’ crotches, and Octavia felt as though her clit was enveloped by pure warmth and pressure. Her will to stay upright quickly faded away, smothered by absolute pleasure. She lay in sensory saturation as Vinyl brought them both to orgasm. It felt like each impact was actually reverberating up her spine and into her brain, shaking her out of her senses. Her forelegs splayed limply on the bed, forgotten by her brain. Only her voice continued to act, crying out and rising in unison with Vinyl’s. Soon, she passed her limit, and her voice cut off as her body convulsed and arched off the bed. Judging from Vinyl’s cry and the way the other end of the dildo rose with her, she could tell her partner had climaxed as well. Octavia held herself in place, riding the waves of pleasure until they finally subsided, and she fell back down with a gasp. Vinyl’s body followed her, and they lay panting on the bed.

Octavia allowed her daze to last for several minutes. Finally, she planted her hooves against the bed and pulled herself back, working herself off of the plastic phallus inside her. Her movements caused the dildo to shift and twist inside Vinyl’s tunnel, making her moan softly. Finally, the cellist extracted the plastic piece from herself with an indecent noise. Exhausted, she dragged herself to Vinyl’s side and lay down. Vinyl turned to look at her.

“Well, that certainly was an enthusiastic performance, especially at the end.”

Vinyl’s horn glowed, and her magic aura pulled the embedded dildo from her, causing her to grunt with a goofy smile.

“Hey, you know me,” Vinyl said, laying back. “When I get excited I start getting creative. Also, impatient.” The shimmering glow sent the plastic instrument flying to the foot of the bed.

“Vinyl, don’t just throw that around!” Octavia reprimanded gently. “I have to wash that.”

“Is that what you’re supposed to do with those?” Vinyl grinned as she turned on her side to face Octavia.

“It’s generally considered hygienic, yes.” Octavia couldn’t suppress a smile of her own. Vinyl draped a hoof across her shoulder, pulling her closer.

“Eh, it can wait until morning.”

Mesmerized by the warm and tender embrace, Octavia couldn’t help but shift closer. “I guess it can,” she agreed, then leaned in and gently kissed Vinyl’s lips. The unicorn hummed happily against her mouth. They broke away, and Octavia nestled her head against Vinyl’s chest. “I love you, Vinyl,” she whispered, letting her eyes drift closed.

“Mmm,” came the unicorn’s response, her eyes already shut. Octavia shifted at her subdued response, her eyes opening again. She waited expectantly for several moments before she spoke.

“Vinyl?”

“Yea?” the unicorn mumbled sleepily.

“I said ‘I love you.’”

“Yep, I heard that.”

“Okay. And you… well, you kind of didn’t say… anything.” Octavia could tell from the change in Vinyl’s breathing that the unicorn wasn’t resting so peacefully anymore.

“I didn’t think anything needed to be said,” Vinyl said after a moment. Octavia drew away from Vinyl and looked into her eyes.

“Well, an ‘I love you, too,’ might not have gone amiss.”

“I thought that was implied.”

“In the grunt, you mean?”

“Well, yea,” Vinyl waved a hoof in confusion.

“Vinyl, saying ‘I love you’ isn’t about implying anything. It’s the kind of thing that’s nice to be explicit about.”

“Well,” Vinyl seemed to falter for a moment, “…so what if I didn’t say it this time? I say it all the time. Am I not allowed to let it pass just once in a while?”

Octavia didn’t say anything in response. She stared at Vinyl as her mind churned. She thought back to the first night they’d been together, in the Echo Chamber’s lounge. She recalled the dates they’d had – at the Spring Fair; at Vinyl’s favorite club in Canterlot; at Octavia’s favorite bar; in her own living room, curled up together on her couch, listening to her favorite records playing almost in time with the unicorn’s heartbeat. She remembered them all with a fine-toothed scrutiny.

“No, I don’t think you do. Vinyl… in all the time we’ve been dating – in the last four months – I don’t think you’ve ever told me you love me.”

“What?” Vinyl stared at her in confusion. “No, I must have. I’m sure I have.”

“I can’t think of a single time. Can you?”

“Yea! Sure! I mean… probably, if I-“

“Name one time. In fact, just tell me the first time you told me you loved me. I’m sure I’d remember it.”

“What?! I don’t know, how am I supposed to remember that?”

“It’s usually a pretty meaningful event,” Octavia retorted. She propped herself up in bed, staring at Vinyl. “Do you seriously not remember?”

“I don’t know, it must have… what, do you-“

“Our fourth date, ten days after we got together. We went to Canterlot to watch my friend perform. Afterwards-“

“Okay, yeah, I remember,” Vinyl tried to interrupt, rolling her eyes.

“Afterwards,” Octavia continued firmly, “we went to the after party to talk with her and some of her guests. And even though you hated most of the ponies there, you behaved yourself and got along with everyone. And when I asked you about it, you said that you could put up with any stuffy, boring, head-up-asshole pony if it meant having fun with me.” Octavia was still starring at Vinyl, but the unicorn couldn’t meet her eyes anymore. “And then we ended up at the donut shop. You made faces out of the donut pieces. I laughed and punched your shoulder, and then I said, ‘I love you.’”

Both ponies were silent for a moment. Octavia watched Vinyl expectantly, finally saying, “There. Your turn.” Vinyl was quiet for a while.

“Look, I’m tired, okay? I can’t remember these things right now. Can we please just leave this for tomorrow?”

“Fine, forget the first time. Forget all the other times it did or didn’t happen. Just tell me now.” It was slight, but something changed in Vinyl’s face. Something she’d seen before. The unicorn’s crimson eyes wavered, and finally looked away.

“So now you’re telling me what to say? I don’t think a relationship’s supposed to work that way.”

“Fine, then I won’t tell you, I’ll just ask. Please tell me?”

“Doesn’t really mean much if you have to manipulate me into saying it, does it?”

“Vinyl, I just want to hear you say it,” Octavia felt herself becoming almost desperate now. “Why are you making such a fuss about it?”

“Hey, you’re the one making it into a big deal all of a sudden. I hadn’t said it five minutes ago, and you were fine then.”

“Well, I guess I wasn’t thinking about it then. But I-“

“Oh, okay, great,” Vinyl rolled her eyes again. “Guess I have to watch out for your thinking. Anything else you feel like thinking about I should be ready for?”

Octavia stared in disbelief at Vinyl. In all the time they’d known each other, been friends, and been lovers, Vinyl had never spoken to her this way.

“Are you seriously fighting me over this?” she asked. “You’d rather have a fight than tell me you love me?”

Vinyl rolled onto her side, facing away from Octavia. “I just don’t think I should have to say something just because you decided you wanted to hear it. Why do you even care so much?” she dismissed.

“I’m sorry, but having my girlfriend tell me she loves me is kind of important to me.” Did Vinyl flinch at the word “girlfriend?” She could have sworn… It didn’t matter now. She was angry, and in no mood for Vinyl’s quirks.

“Look, honey, I do my relationships my way, okay? Sorry if you don’t like it, but I’m not gonna change myself just to tell you what you want to hear.”

Silence pervaded the room. Octavia computed her responses in her head, mentally following each conversation to its most likely outcome. And the longer she followed them, the more and more they all arrived at the same conclusion. That conclusion terrified her the moment it entered her mind, but once it did, she knew she couldn’t back away from it. When she spoke next, she dreaded the response.

“Do you?”

“What?” Vinyl asked, looking over her shoulder slightly.

“Do you love me?” Octavia definitely saw Vinyl tense up this time. The silence that followed was painful, but she endured it, waiting silently for Vinyl’s answer. Finally, the unicorn turned over and fixed her with a rueful stare.

“That’s a pretty shitty way to win a fight, Tavi.”

“I don’t give a damn about the fight,” Octavia insisted loudly. “I just want you to answer the question. Do you love me or not?”

“Well, pfft… how the hell should I know?”

“We’ve been together for months now!” Octavia yelled. “I’d think you’d have gotten some feeling about that by now. Are you telling me you honestly don’t have any feelings about us, after everything we’ve done together?”

“Well,” Vinyl said as she turned away again. “Right now I’m feeling like ‘us’ is a little bitchier than I’d like to deal with tonight.” Octavia sat, speechless. She felt the sting of tears threatening to form at the corners of her eyes.

“I think you’d better go,” she finally said, more evenly than she’d realized she’d be able to.

“Kinda be late to try to punish me after sex, isn’t it?” Vinyl snorted.

“I didn’t realize sex was the only thing in this relationship that mattered to you,” Octavia growled, her composure starting to fail her.

“I didn’t… I just meant…” Vinyl stuttered, stumbling over her own retort. Finally she rolled out of bed and onto her hooves. “Fine, screw this. I’m outta here.”

“Fine, go.” Octavia leapt to her feet, standing on the bed. She reached down to the foot of the bed and picked up the discarded dildo. She chucked it towards Vinyl’s retreating head, shouting, “And take your stupid toy with you.” It sailed within an inch of Vinyl’s head and thudded against the wall in front of her. Vinyl glared over her shoulder at her, but said nothing. The unicorn picked it up with her magic and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Octavia listened to the heavy hoofsteps of the unicorn stomping down stairs, punctuated by the opening and slamming of the front door. Octavia finally fell back onto her bed with an angry yell. She gripped a pillow against her head and flailed her hind legs in frustration. She growled and yelled repeatedly, until the sharpness of anger began to give way to the ache in her chest. She lay still, and finally turned on her side, back to the door through which Vinyl had left, determined to sleep and forget. She didn’t accomplish either very well.

*--------------------------*

“Man, I love that song,” Vinyl chirped as the set list finished its last entry. “That’s the latest from Fallout Colt, who have apparently learned how to make decent music in the last three years. Who knew, huh?”

‘She certainly doesn’t have trouble saying it to a song,’ Octavia thought bitterly as she watched her co-host remove the record from the turntable. ‘Good to know where I fall in the “Things Important to Vinyl Scratch” hierarchy in relation to nonsensical pop songs from whiny goth boy bands of fading relevance.’ Octavia’s face remained the picture of pleasant neutrality as she seethed internally. Her eyes stayed glued to the program in front of her as she steadfastly refused to roll them. The only thing she could be proud of in the situation was that she’d kept that under disciplined control. Leaning towards the microphone, she spoke in a pleasant tone.

“We hope you at home enjoyed this last music set. As a reminder, our program today is brought to you by Head and Withers Total Moisturizing Solution. We’ll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors.”

“Don’t touch that dial, ponies!” Vinyl added enthusiastically. The “On Air” sign went dim, and both ponies’ energetic joviality shut off just as fast. Octavia was vaguely aware of Vinyl lifting her glasses and rubbing her eyes, but she was trying her best to keep her attention anywhere but the other mare. Her eyes fell to the papers she took in her hooves. She began studying her script, though she’d already memorized most of it the night before. It wasn’t very complicated, especially without any spontaneous banter to throw hosts off track. But it was a distraction to fill the void of another desperately long and silent commercial break. She’d only been reading for several seconds when the station manager called to them through the studio speakers.

“Vinyl, Octavia, would you come in here please?” Octavia glanced towards the control booth curiously. She replaced her notes and headed for the door, Vinyl following her at a distance. When they arrived, their manager turned to face them and immediately held up a hoof, cutting off anything either of them might have tried to say.

“Okay,” he said with a voice of thinning patience. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but I need you to get it sorted out one way or another, and fast.”

Octavia tried to feign confusion as she spoke. “Sir, I’m not sure-“

“Whatever’s happening in there needs to stop,” the manager interrupted. “You two have not spoken directly to each other in three days. All either of you do is read your scripts and play your songs. And you,” he pointed at Octavia, “won’t stop rolling your eyes at everything she says.”

“Wha-!” Octavia’s shock was genuine this time. “I am… not rolling my-“

“You’re doing it constantly,” the manager insited.

“Almost non-stop,” agreed one technician.

“At first I thought you were trying to hypnotize us all,” an assistant chimed in.

“I… I wasn’t…”

“And it’s not the ‘There she goes again’ kind of eye roll you used to do,” the manager continued. “It’s more of a ‘Someone give me a knife and walk away’ kind of eye roll. It’s honestly scary.”

“I don’t… I don’t want to… stab Vinyl… It’s pretty low on the list at least!”

“Really diggin’ this ‘Stuck in a room with you’ situation right now,” Vinyl snorted.

“And you,” the manager pointed at Vinyl this time, “keep tapping – no, stomping your hoof every time she’s talking on air.”

“What?!” It was Vinyl’s turn to be indignant. “I’m not… I was never… No one can hear that!”

“It vibrates up through the console to the mic, Vinyl. We’ve gotten a dozen calls asking if Octavia’s mic is broken, because she starts clicking every time she talks.” Vinyl looked away, blushing slightly. Their manager sighed, lifting a hoof to his forehead.

“Look, for better or for worse, whatever happens between you two is none of my business. What is my business is this radio station, and whatever’s going on is putting the whole show at risk. There’s no banter, no back and forth, not even civilized conversation. Vinyl hasn’t even threatened to commit a felony in seventy two hours. It’s boring, it’s awkward, and it’s cutting into our ratings. But worse than that, it’s making everyone worried. Do you know how many letters we’ve gotten just asking if you two are okay?” He sighed, his scowl softening. “And to be perfectly honest, I don’t know how to answer that if I were to try.”

The two ponies stared at the ground in silence. Octavia was the first to look up. “We understand, sir. We’ll get everything sorted out after the show. It won’t happen again.”

*--------------------------*

Octavia was surprised by a knocking on her door, causing her to glance at her clock. She already knew from the few dozen other glances that it was still five minutes before Vinyl had agreed to be at her house. It wasn’t like the unicorn to be early. She paused in front of her bedroom mirror to adjust her tie and brush a hoof through her mane. Then, remembering that she was upset with Vinyl, she checked her scowl. Satisfied with her unamused demeanor, her attention was called back by a second round of knocks. She crossed the living room and threw open the door, only to find herself staring at a pony who was not Vinyl.

“Hello, Miss,” a lanky stallion greeted her, holding out a book and a clipboard. “I’m here on behalf of Ponies for the Crystal Princess celebration. As you may know, our fair princess Cadance is the ruler of the Crystal Kingdom, and an equal in princesshood of Princesses Celestia and Luna. But in spite of this, Equestria has no celebration honoring her. Our organization aims to-“

“Excuse me,” Octavia cut him off, “I’m afraid I have no interest in joining your club tonight. If you’ll excuse me, I’m expecting someone. Have a lovely evening.” She closed the door before he could utter another word, and turned to pace across the room. She’d made it half way to the kitchen before there was another knock at the door. She returned and opened it to see the same stallion still standing there.

“Pardon me, Miss,” he said, oblivious to the annoyance in Octavia’s stare, “but I’m sure you’ll agree that our princess Cadance is more than deserving of a festival to celebrate her-“

“Sir, I told you I am not interested. Please stop bothering me with your inane causes and remove yourself from my doorstep. Goodnight.” She closed the door with a huff. A moment later, another knock on the door made her growl in frustration. She threw open the door and shouted, “I told you, I don’t want anything more to do with you!”

Vinyl stood in front of her, blinking in stunned confusion at her anger.

“Well,” she said slowly after a moment, “that seemed kinda conclusive.”

Octavia leveled an unimpressed stare at the unicorn. “Who was your friend, Vinyl?” she asked after a moment in a sardonic tone.

“Some guy I grabbed off the street,” Vinyl rolled her eyes. Her grin did nothing to feign her innocence or hide her mirth. “Best five bits I ever spent.”

“Hilarious,” Octavia deadpanned. “Thank you so much for taking this seriously. This night is off to a great start.”

“Hey, come on, don’t be like that,” Vinyl coaxed. “It was just a joke. Look, I come bearing gifts.” She levitated a box off the top of her back and floated it in front of Octavia. The earth pony took it and pulled off the lid, beholding a bottle of fine brandy.

“Oh,” she said, her expression softening as she read the label. “Dioneighsus Metaxa…”

“Your favorite brand,” Vinyl looked pleased with herself.

“Thank you, Vinyl, that’s thoughtful.”

“That gets me some points, right?”

“Some,” Octavia replied sternly. She replaced the box lid and balanced the package on her back. “Come inside, please. We should talk.” She turned and walked towards the kitchen.

“Yes ma’am,” Vinyl trotted in behind her, closing the door. Two flashes of teleportation magic later, she was in the kitchen, already reaching for the cupboards. “You open the bottle, and I’ll get us some glasses.”

“Later, Vinyl,” Octavia’s tone was still serious. She deposited the gift on the dining table and turning to face the unicorn fully. “We have some very important things to discuss, and I’d rather we be sober when we do, lest things get out of hoof again.”

“What?” Vinyl paused mid-reach, turning to look at Octavia. “I thought we were supposed to be making up.”

“Well, I’d certainly like to. But we can’t just do that by ignoring our problems. We have to talk about this.”

“Tavi, things are fine, aren’t they? What’s to talk about?”

“Well, the fact that you won’t tell me you love me would be a good place to start.”

“Oh come on, are you still on that?” Vinyl paced out of the kitchen. “Gods, Tavi, let it go.”

“I’m not going to just ‘let it go,’ Vinyl,” Octavia said, her voice rising in frustration. “I don’t care if you think it’s whiny or clingy or whatever you want to call it. I need some kind of emotional acknowledgement from a relationship partner. This isn’t something I’m willing to just give up because you don’t feel like it.”

“I thought my actions throughout this whole thing would have told you something.”

“But I need the words, too, Vinyl. Those words mean something to me.”

“Okay, well,” Vinyl retorted angrily, “maybe I don’t feel like saying it. And I don’t feel comfortable in a relationship where I have to say and do everything that you tell me to. And I’m not willing to give up my independence just because you feel like-“

“Fine, then you have to tell me why,” Octavia cut her off, stamping her hoof. “If you want to negotiate it that way, then you have to give me a good reason why you can’t tell me that you love me. This can’t just be because you didn’t feel like it.”

“I… well, that’s…” Vinyl stammered, caught off guard.

“Is it because you don’t love me? Did you ever? Have you just been leading me on this entire time?”

“What? No! Tavi, that isn’t… I just…”

“Then why, Vinyl? Why can you not just give me a straight answer about why you can’t-“

“Dammit, Tavi, will you just stop?!” Vinyl shouted, finally managing to bring a pause in the argument. She looked at Octavia pleadingly, something bordering on fear clouding her eyes. “Look, we have a good thing, don’t we? Can’t we just be happy with that?”

“That’s what I want.” Octavia’s expression finally broke. Seeing Vinyl so distraught practically filled her with grief. At that moment, she felt she would have given anything just to end this stupid fight. Almost anything. “Vinyl, I love you. I want to go back to us, to being happy together. But I need this. I can’t just be in a relationship and not know why that pony can’t tell me that she loves me. Please, Vinyl, just answer me.”

Both ponies were silent for a long time, searching in each other’s eyes. Finally, Vinyl blinked. She lowered her head and stretched her eyelids. When she opened her eyes, they were hard, the light of joy that normally danced in them nowhere to be found.

“Alright,” she announced, “I think I know how this goes, so I think I’ll save both our time and just skip to the end.” She turned and began walking towards the door.

“Are you walking out on me again?!” Octavia demanded, the agitation back in her voice. Vinyl turned and stared at her in grimly.

“No, Tavi, I’m ending this. It’s over. I’ll see you at work.” She turned away again.

All of Octavia’s anger and indignation vanished in an instant. The thousand arguments and retorts and threads of reason in her brain went silent. All that was left was confusion and a sudden, cold dread that gripped her heart. Vinyl was dumping her. Only that thought remained.

“You… you’re breaking up with me?” she whispered, unable to say the words louder. She felt the tears stinging her eyes long before her brain was even able to comprehend it.

“You don’t have to say it like I’m hurting you or something,” Vinyl joked, not turning to face her, “I’m just saving us trouble down the road. You know how I hate it when things get drawn out. It’s easier this way.” Octavia was still too stunned to notice the way the unicorn’s voice cracked at the end. Everything was confusion inside. One by one, questions began to form in the back of her mind, blending together in a haze.

She didn’t move until Vinyl was most of the way across the room. “Wait,” she finally whispered holding out a hoof. The word sparked a panic inside her. The questions burst through to the forefront of her mind, pumping with the adrenaline into her heart. She leapt to her feet and sprinted after Vinyl. “Wait, Vinyl, please!” she shouted, skidding to a stop in front of her.

“I don’t understand,” she said as the tears flowed down her cheeks. “I thought we were happy. I thought you wanted to be with me. Why are you doing this?”

Vinyl stared at her stoically. “Yea, it was fun for a while. But all good things come to an end, right? It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“What?! No! Vinyl, I care about you so much. We can fix this, I promise. Please, just talk to me.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes, annoyance growing on her face. “Jeeze, Tavi, it’s over. Let’s move on already. Clean break, okay?” With that, the unicorn moved past her and towards the door. Octavia fell to her rump, staring disbelievingly into space.

“…You really don’t love me, do you?” she whispered. Vinyl paused mid-stride.

“That doesn’t really matter now, does it?” the unicorn answered after a moment, and walked on. The response brought Octavia back to her feet, and she scrambled after Vinyl. She stopped her just shy of the door.

“Tell me why,” Octavia begged her. “Please, just tell me why you don’t love me.”

“Look, I told you, it doesn’t matter,” Vinyl growled. “Don’t make this a scene.”

“Was it something I did? Was it my cooking? Was it because I made you socialize with my friends?”

“What?! No!” Vinyl faltered. “You didn’t-“

“Then what was it? When did it start? Were you just leading me on this entire time?”

“No, I didn’t… I just… I wasn’t trying to…”

“Vinyl, please, just tell me why.” Octavia’s hooves where on Vinyl’s withers now. “If it’s because of me, we can work it out. I don’t want to lose you.

“It’s not… I just can’t-“

“Then you don’t have to. I won’t make you ever again. Just tell me why, please. Help me understand.”

“You can’t… Dammit, Octavia, just let it go.”

“I can’t let it go! I need to know why I lost you. Why can’t you just tell me?”

“Octavia, stop!”

“I deserve to know why. You owe me that. You can’t just cut me out and not tell me why. Please just answer m-”

“So that it won’t hurt so bad when you kick me to the curb!” Vinyl screamed.

Octavia was so stunned that it took her a long moment to process what Vinyl had said. “What?” she finally whispered. Vinyl looked at the ground angrily. After a moment, she forced herself to meet Octavia’s gaze.

“Look, I told you: you’re not the first pony to fall in love with me. And it’s always the same. At first everything’s great – all dinners and roses and sex. It’s all perfect. But soon enough, the first rush wears off, and then… then they have to spend time with me. And then it’s all ‘Why are you so loud, Vinyl?’ and ‘Stop embarrassing me in front of my friends, Vinyl’ and ‘You’re such a psychotic bitch, Vinyl’. Every godsdamned time, they get a look under the veneer, and suddenly the crazy, spontaneous life of the party is just an annoyance. A liability. I’m a love-her-and-leave-her pony. A great story to tell your friends about how you banged the DJ, but gods forbid you spend any time around her or you’ll go out of your mind.”

“And you? Gods, Tavi, look at you. You light up a room just by walking into it. You’re brilliant and talented and sophisticated, and yet you’re still one of the most down to earth, sincere, gentle ponies I’ve ever met. You should have ponies lying at your feet everywhere you walk. How long could somepony like me honestly hope to keep somepony like you interested? I knew from the moment I fell for you how it would end. But I couldn’t help myself. I’m too much of an idiot to just walk away, to forget how you made me feel when you looked at me, and talked to me, and smiled at me. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“So I lied to myself. I never admitted how I felt. Because if I didn’t say it, if I never let myself realize it, then maybe, just maybe, when you did get tired of me and throw me away, I’d be able to handle it. Maybe I’d be able to forget that I’d been with the pony who makes me feel more special, more loved than I’ve ever felt any club, or concert, or bed, and that now she’s just another pony who wants nothing to do with me. Maybe I could survive it.”

Vinyl finally ran out of steam. With nothing more to say, she seemed to find it hard to meet Octavia’s gaze. The earth pony stared at Vinyl, speechless. She realized she’d been holding her breath the entire time the unicorn had been speaking, and she slowly let it out. She tried to find her words as she did.

“Vinyl…” she began, but the unicorn turned away from her.

“I know how this show ends, Tavi,” she muttered. “I don’t need to stick around to watch it again. I’d rather rip the bandage off myself than wait for you to do it.” Vinyl pulled the door open.

“Vinyl,” Octavia tried to stop her, “please, wait. That’s not-“ But the unicorn leapt out the door and sprinted into the night. Octavia shouted after her. “Vinyl! Vinyl, come back! Vinyl!” Octavia leapt into the doorway just in time to see a magenta bubble envelop the unicorn’s retreating form, and then flash away. Octavia sat in her doorway, staring into the empty night. She wrapped her forelegs around her body as her eyes once again burned with tears. With no more words to speak, she couldn’t have stopped the sobs that finally came if she’d tried.