In a full club in Ponyville, Vinyl and Octavia stood on stage together, playing to a rallying, cheering crowd. Octavia rocked out on bass guitar far more masterfully than she ever had before, Vinyl jammed on lead guitar and sang along on a headset microphone, Berry banged on the drums and a young drake already native to the town joined them on the ivory keys. The ponies practically crowded the space around the stage, and even more were attempting to squeeze through the door, albeit unsuccessful thanks to the gargantuan blonde-maned bouncer keeping everything in check. As their song ended, the cheers grew into a cacophony of indecipherable voices. The band simply bowed and retreated to their somewhat luxurious dressing room behind the stage. Vinyl and Octavia set their instruments down and sighed.

“This is a lot more fun than I ever thought it would be, Scratch.”

Vinyl grinned and pulled the mare closer to her. “What’d I tell ya, Tavi? I knew you’d love it.” She let Octavia go and walked over to the drake, holding a hoof out to him. “Yo, Spike, you rocked it out there! Would you mind coming on as a permanent member of the band?”

Spike returned the bump with a claw-fist. “You want me, you got me. Of course, I’ve still gotta talk to Twilight about it. She is kinda my boss-slash-big-sister-slash-mom and stuff.”

“Cool, cool…” Vinyl approached her best friend next. “As expected, Ber, dynamite drumming. You don’t let yourself get rusty at anything, do ya?”

Berry Punch flushed. “You know what they say…if you’ve got a talent, don’t waste it.” The mulberry mare eyed the clock on the wall. “Jeez, it’s almost midnight. No more encores, right, Vi?”

Vinyl shook her head and chuckled. “Tartarus, no, two is more than enough.” The DJ moved back to her mare. “What do you say we head on home, Tavi? I hear a nice, soft mattress calling our names.”

Octavia gave a light nod, her body already being taken over by a half-sleep state. Side by side, the two mares walked out to the stage again to be greeted by the crowds. Vinyl stepped up to the microphone at the front of the stage and tapped it twice to ensure it was on. “Okay, folks, much as we’d love to play some more, we’re all getting real tired and it’s almost midnight, so everypony has to clear out. But we’ll be back next week, I promise!” Though initially met with disappointed groans, the chatter turned positive as the crowds retreated out the doors. The bar was soon emptied to the extent where those remaining were its employees. Vinyl walked over to the bar where a rose-maned, pink-coated mare reminiscent of Berry Punch stood cleaning the countertop. “Hey, Cheers, I’ve really gotta thank you for taking the night shift at the bar when Berry’s on stage with us.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem at all, Vinyl.” Cheerilee smiled and put the last few glasses back under the bar. “Teaching is a wonderful occupation, but sometimes the bits just don’t cut it. It’s nice to have a bit of extra money every now and then.” She looked over to the stoic stallion standing guard at the door. “And the view from here isn’t bad, either.”

“Eyeing up Applejack’s brother again, sis?” Cheerilee jumped as Berry walked up behind Vinyl. “Just go and ask the damn boy out already.”

“The last thing I plan to do is take dating advice from my little sister.”

“You’re only older by a few days!”

“Well, you two can continue your bickering outside the club, because I’ve gotta close up shop.”

The lights went down and the remaining ponies in the club parted ways at the door, with the exception of Vinyl and a very tired Octavia. Vinyl zapped the handle with her magic and an aura enveloped the building before fading out. “All right, Tavi, we’re headed home now.” Octavia mumbled something along the lines of ‘okay’ and leaned into Vinyl. “You wanna hang onto me?” The grey mare nodded and draped a hoof over Vinyl’s neck and the two continued onward. Five minutes of soothing silence later, the two find themselves in front of their humble abode. It hadn’t been much compared to Octavia’s old estate, but it was a far cry from anywhere Vinyl had ever lived. It was home, and that’s how they treated it. Upon entering, Octavia drifted over to the couch in the center of the living room and draped herself across it. Vinyl giggled and made herself comfortable right next to her. After snuggling into position, she suddenly felt something brush into her neck and looked down to see Octavia’s head nestled under her chin.

“Vinyl?”

“Yeah, Tavi?”

“What do we do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…we’ve done what we wanted to…we left Canterlot, rebuilt the bar here in Ponyville, got a fantastic deal on this house…”

“Yeah, I’ll have to write out a proper thank-you to Marble Streak for the hint about this place.”

“After all this…what’s next?”

“You know exactly what’s next, Tavi.”

Octavia nuzzled Vinyl’s neck and kissed it lightly. “And what’s that?”

“Anything…anything we want, Tavi, we can do it. We don’t have to make plans or anything. You wanna travel to Appleloosa? We’ll do it! Wanna spend countless hours at home reading Daring Do? We’ll do that too! All we gotta do is wing it, and we can make anything happen.”

Octavia giggled as she lifted her head up so that she was looking directly into Vinyl’s eyes. “I never told you how much I loved your eyes. Such a beautiful color…” Vinyl’s cheeks turned red. “You blush the same color too. It’s cute.”

The two shared a laugh and stared into each other’s eyes in silence for a few moments. Out of nowhere, Vinyl began to sing the song they had just finished playing. “I don’t care where you’re from, if you’re smart or you’re dumb…”

Octavia joined in, harmonizing with Vinyl flawlessly. “If you wanna be a bad guy or Mister Right…”

“I don’t care what you say, I’mma go my own way!”

“You go yours, and maybe we’ll meet up someday!”

Suddenly filled with an unusual energy, the two stood up and began to dance, standing on their back legs and holding onto one another, spinning around the room and giggling as they continued to sing.

“Make it up!”
“Make it up!”

“As you go!”
“As you go!”

“Future’s wide open, nothing’s written in stone!”

The two spun again and again until they fell back on the couch, Octavia lying atop Vinyl. Their eyes met once more as Octavia dove into a kiss that lingered for more than a minute. They melted into each other and smiled as they parted and finished the song.

“Gotta make it up as you go.”

Author's Note

STORY FINISHED GUYS!

I know it wasn't a particularly long story, but I never intended it to be. But it's done, and guess what? I might do a sequel!

Not really sure where I could go from here, but I'll give it a shot. But that's some ways away. For now, I will sit back and enjoy the fact that I have finally finished a story that isn't a one-shot or a holiday special.

I would like to thank my dedicated readers for sticking around all this time, and I would like to give a special shout out to Twilight_Scratch for commenting on every single chapter of my story. You are an awesome individual and I really appreciate the support you gave me along the way. Even seeing your one comment per chapter was enough to keep the story going. All it takes is one reader to make a difference, guys.

3 AM, TIME TO PASS OUT.