Octavia's Melody

I awoke groggily from a deep sleep. I looked side to side, and then grabbed my bowtie and tied it onto my neck. After standing up and getting out of bed I took my hairbrush and brushed my dark grey hair. I trotted into the entry hall, opened the door, and stepped outside. The sun was gone in the clouds. They formed a thick layer in the sky, masking any sunlight that tried to escape. I sighed and continued walking. The stones under my hooves were cold, and the wind was strong. A sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere, and my bowtie flew off. I thought I saw Vinyl see it on the ground and bring it to me- until I realized it was just a passing pedestrian. I trotted over to get it. I tied it on, and continued my walk.

After a few minutes I arrived at the coffee shop. The bell tinged as I walked in, as always, and Coffee Grind was already waiting for me. I always came at the same time.

"No friend to-day, Miss Octavia?" I wearily smiled.

"Not today, Coffee Grind."

"What can I get you? Your usual latte?" I nodded and walked over to give him 2 bits. The table in the corner I had sat at with Vinyl poked fun at me, being all alone. I sat down in the seat I had yesterday. The memory of wiping foam on the Unicorn's snout made me laugh a bit, but the feeling soon faded as I realized she was not here. Coffee Grind brought me my latte. I took it and slowly made my way to the door.

I walked down the freezing street with my coffee in hoof, looking at the overcast grey sky and then at the foals playing next to a fountain. I imagined Vinyl walking next to me, talking and laughing in that unique manner. The trees blew in the strong wind. My hair blew and tangled itself into knots, but I didn't care. I began to pick up my pace before the wind got too strong. Of course, the sky picked now to start raining. The foals across the street whined and galloped inside. The rain got harder and harder- then I saw a streak of light dash across the sky. Thunder followed in close pursuit. The bolt of lightning hit in the near distance, and another bolt struck. This time it was much closer. I hurried to get inside before it got too close, but I was too slow. In a flurry of yellow light a streak hit a tall tree nearby, and it fell. It landed on my tail- I was trapped.

I waited for at least an hour for help until I heard a voice.

"OCTAVIA!" It came again, this time closer.

"OCTAVIA!" The owner of the voice was approaching quite quickly.

"Octavia! Are you OK?" It was a white Unicorn. I had not been so happy to see anypony in a very long time- if ever.

"Vinyl! I am so happy you are here. Do you think I could possibly have some assistance?"

"Well, duh. Why do you think I'm here?"

"Oh... right. Thank you for coming. How did you know I needed help?"

"Actually, I didn't. I was just passing by because I needed to pick up some new headphones from the store. Glad I picked today to get some!"

"Oh, Vinyl... me too." The Unicorn lit her horn and trails of magenta magic reached out to the tree branch, picking it up off of my tail.

"Thank you so much!"

"Ppht. It was nothing. Hey, you wanna come home with me? It's closer than your house, and I have hot chocolate..." She trailed off at the end, realizing what she had asked.

"I don't mean like that, I meant like as friends never mind maybe I should just go-" I clamped a hoof in her mouth.

"I would like nothing better."

We began to run back to her house, getting soaked. The rain came down hard on our heads. Her apartment appeared in the fog and we dashed to the entrance. Vinyl flung open the door and we got inside as quickly as we could. I slammed the door and we fell on the floor laughing. The Unicorn across from me was wet, to say the very least. Her spiky mane was dripping and flat. The water had made the hues of blue at least a few shades darker than they were naturally. Her mane clung to her now-grey coat. At that moment, I realized something.

I was in love.

Vinyl broke the staring silence.

"Wow- that was exciting! So, how about that hot chocolate?" She dashed off to her kitchen before I could say a word. I sat down where I was, as I did not want to get her apartment wetter than it already was. I heard her kettle whistling, and a few minutes later she came in with steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"Thank you!" I sipped at the cup. As I looked up, I realized she had been staring at me instead of drinking her beverage. She quickly looked down and drank some of the hot liquid. We sat in silence- we didn't need to say anything.

"Vinyl, I just wanted to thank you for helping me when I needed it. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come when you did." She simply smiled in return.

"Tavi- yesterday I asked you if you wanted to go to dinner sometime. Are we still on?"

"Oh, definitely. Tomorrow night?"

"Hmmmmmmm. I'll have to check my schedule." We both burst out laughing. The DJ walked over to her fireplace and started a fire. We sat in front of it drinking our hot chocolate. I scooted a bit closer, and she tensed but then relaxed. The rain was still pouring down outside. The fire was warm on our soaked fur, and I couldn't be happier.