Even now, the air tingled with magic.

The concert was over, and most of the students had dispersed, leaving only a few stragglers chatting in the amphitheater seats or milling around onstage. The lights were out, and the amplifiers silent. But still the magic remained, mingling with the lingering smoke that hung in the air like the ghost of some mythical creature.

Octavia could feel it—almost taste it—as she observed the scene from atop one of the small hills overlooking the amphitheater, sitting on the grass with her arms around her legs and her chin resting on her knees. The cool night air ran its fingers through her dark hair, pulling a few strands loose so they dangled in front of her eyes. She didn’t blink, however, the images before her blending with recollections of the night’s events into a surreal daydream that twisted her insides into frozen knots.

She sighed—a pitiful sound, even to her ears. She was thankful no one was around to hear it.

Or so she assumed.

“Crazy night, huh?”

Octavia jolted, barely containing a yelp. Whipping her head around, she searched for the voice’s owner, and there, several feet to her left, a girl stood with her hands on her hips, looking out across the scene before them. Unruly hair, so electric blue that it seemed to glow in the dark, danced in the breeze, and a purple pair of sunglasses, worn in spite of the fact it was night, concealed her eyes.

Octavia recognized the girl, of course. For one thing, they both went to Canterlot High. For another, this very girl had played a central role in the ‘crazy night’ in question.

Octavia snorted, putting her chin back on her knees. “That’s putting it mildly. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured,” the girl chuckled, taking a seat on the ground next to Octavia. “You looked awfully meditative, sitting over here on your lonesome.”

Octavia didn’t say anything at first, and they shared a brief, comfortable silence. Finally, Octavia muttered, “Do you remember when our school used to be normal?”

The girl glanced in her direction, one eyebrow appearing over the upper rim of her shades. “You’re kidding, right? This school’s always been weird,” she countered with a toothy grin. “That’s what I love about it. Keeps things from getting too boring. Besides, it’s like I always say: ‘Normal’ is only a statistical anomaly.”

“Yes, well…” Octavia rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about you, but I could really use some normalcy right about now.”

The girl seemed to mull that over. “Heh, maybe you’re right,” she said after a moment. “I have to admit, it’s been weirder than usual lately, what with the Fall Formal. And tonight really cranked it up to eleven.” She raised her sunglasses so they rested on top of her head, then looked to the sky with a striking pair of magenta eyes. “How often do you get to watch an all-girl rock band grow pony ears and go all expecto patronum on a trio of flying, singing seahorses?”

Octavia smiled—her first of the night. “You say that as if you weren’t right there with them. You practically emceed the whole affair.”

The girl laughed out loud. “I guess you got me there! Though, really, I was just in the right place at the right time. I mean, when that dog asked me for help, how was I supposed to know things would get so strange?”

Octavia blinked at her.

“Okay, yeah…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m not helping my case, am I?”

“Not really,” Octavia replied with a subdued giggle.

Another easy silence passed between them, until the girl got back to her feet and stretched out her back with a series of tiny pops. “So anyways, I heard some of the others are gonna swing by Sugarcube Corner for a late-night snack, and I thought I’d do the same. Wanna come with?”

Octavia paused, then turned away from the girl, laying her cheek against her knee and sighing. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m up for being sociable right now.”

“Oh, come on, girl!” She tapped Octavia’s shoe with her own. “It’s gotta beat moping here by yourself, amirite?”

Octavia panned her gaze across the amphitheater again. By now, nearly all the students had left, and even the magic in the air was starting to fade. It was getting quieter. Darker. A handful of intrepid stars broke through the light pollution overhead.

Fighting off a sudden chill, Octavia looked back at the other girl, who was still waiting for an answer with an expectant grin on her face. Looking at the girl—her face, that smile, the way her eyes caught the moonlight—Octavia weathered her way through a slight fluttery sensation in her stomach, took a deep breath, and answered:

“Perhaps you’re right.”

“That’s more like it!” the girl said. “Let’s get a move on, then.”

She extended a hand to help Octavia up, and, after a brief moment of hesitation, Octavia took it, the strange new sensation in her gut growing stronger as she was lifted to her feet. She tried to distract herself by brushing bits of grass off her skirt.

“The name’s Vinyl, by the way.” The girl extended a fist in her direction. Octavia looked at the offered with some uncertainty before awkwardly bumping it with her own.

“Octavia,” she said. “Octavia Melody.”

“Pleased to meet you, Octavia Melody,” Vinyl replied with a formality that was at once exaggerated and good-natured. Then, with a friendly but wince-inducing slap to Octavia’s back, she said, “Come on! My car’s this way.”

“I saw this thing during the concert,” Octavia said, staring at the machine in front of her, “but I had no idea it was a car!”

The vehicle in question, still parked on the hill from which the Rainbooms had faced the Dazzlings, had already reverted back to its automotive form. Its coloration, Octavia noticed, matched Vinyl’s to a T, and a bizarre, equine hood ornament reared up on its front end.

What’s with all this horse-based imagery lately? Octavia wondered.

“Yeah, it’s my pride and joy,” Vinyl said with a smile, using one of her purple arm warmers to buff out a scuff on its hood. “I got the car itself from my folks when I turned sixteen, and… well, let’s just say I’ve customized it a bit. Y’know, a modification, an accessory there—that sort of thing.”

“I would say so,” Octavia breathed, at once awed and frightened of the strange car.

Vinyl slid into the driver’s seat, and Octavia timorously followed suit, fastening her seat belt and pulling the strap extra tight. “Did you do it all yourself?”

“Well, my bro’s really good with cars, so he helped me. Like, with the welding and stuff.” She put the key into the ignition, started the car, and gave a devilish grin as the engine roared to life. “But it’s all my design.”

“Impressive.” She blinked at what had to have been the most ridiculously elaborate control panel to ever grace—or inflict, as the case may be—a dashboard. “My word…”

Vinyl grinned. “Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Check this out!” She flipped one of the switches, and music began to thunder from the speakers, the air itself seeming to shake from the bass-line as if from the footsteps of some Lovecraftian abomination. Octavia clamped her hands over her ears from the suddenness and the ferocity of the noise. Vinyl, noticing her discomfort, turned the volume back down with an apologetic wince. “Oops. Heh, my bad.”

“No worries,” Octavia replied, nevertheless working her jaw to pop her ears. “It just caught me off guard, is all. I don’t know how you can stand to have it so loud.”

She shrugged. “I guess I’m just used to it.” With that, Vinyl put the car in drive and began making her way out of Canterlot City Park. After a moment, she said, “Besides, you don’t really strike me as the EDM type.”

“Well, I like to think I have an open mind, but yes, I’m more of a classical and jazz fan, usually.”

“You’re a cellist, right?”

Octavia blinked at her. “How did you…?”

Vinyl chuckled. “Puh-lease! I’ve seen you lugging that ginormous case around enough times.”

It was Octavia’s turn to grin. “Well, actually, I was just surprised you knew what a cello was. To borrow your phrase: You don’t really strike me as the classical type.”

“Hey, give me some credit,” she replied with a glare over the top of her shades. “I may have a thing for EDM, but I can dig the oldies. Good’s good, no matter the genre.”

With a nod of agreement, Octavia turned her attention out the window, watching as they pulled out of the park and onto the well-lit city streets. Letting one arm dangle out the open window, Octavia watched the passing buildings and sorted through her thoughts. Suddenly, something Vinyl had said sprang back into her mind.

Turning back to the other girl, she said, “So, you’ve noticed me around school, have you?”

To her surprise, Vinyl didn’t answer right away. Instead, she fidgeted in the driver’s seat and kept her eyes glued to the road. Eventually: “A few times. Y’know, just… around. No bigs.”

Octavia stared at her for another moment, then looked back out the window. “It’s a shame, really,” she said idly.

“Hmm?”

“That we’ve never really crossed paths before now. What with our shared love of music.”

Vinyl merely nodded.

“You’re a DJ, yes?”

“Among other things.” Whatever awkwardness had come over her before vanished like a puff of smoke in the wind. She began counting off on her fingers. “I have a part time job at the music store in the mall. I produce my own music. I play piano…”

Octavia’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Piano? Really?”

“Yeah,” she said with a shrug. “I mean… I’m okay, I guess. Started taking lessons when I was six. That’s where my love of music started, really. Obviously, my horizons have expanded a bit since then, but… yeah, I can play alright.” She drove in silence for a few seconds, then snorted. “I guess you can say that piano isn’t my—” She lifted her sunglasses and smirked in Octavia’s direction. “—forte.”

A laugh escaped Octavia’s mouth before she could stop it. “Oh, that’s awful!”

Beaming, Vinyl lowered her shades and turned back to the road.

Yet another comfortable silence passed between them, and, once she recovered from Vinyl’s pun, Octavia slipped back into her thoughts. Or, more specifically, her memories. Vinyl had mentioned seeing her around school. Much the same was true for Octavia, of course. Between her hair and the sunglasses she always wore, Vinyl was pretty easy to spot. Octavia had always been a tad curious—just a tad, mind—about the other girl. Before tonight, the only things she’d known about her was that she DJ’d a lot of the schools functions, such as the Fall Formal dance, and that she never seemed to...

Octavia blinked.

“It occurs to me,” she said suddenly.

Vinyl glanced over at her. “What’s that?”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you speak before.”

Vinyl smiled, rolling her eyes behind her shades.

“Not that we’ve ever spoken before tonight, of course,” Octavia added. “But I suppose I thought you might be mute, or something.”

Vinyl chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. You’re not the first to think that. I dunno, I guess I’m just not a big talker. I prefer to let my music speak for me, y’dig? That, and I enjoy listening.”

“To music?” Octavia asked, prodding a pair of earphones that hung from the rear-view mirror.

“Well, yeah. But… like, people too.” Vinyl was silent for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts. “Most people don’t do that. Listen, I mean. They’re so busy making noise that they don’t know how to just stop and take it in.”

Octavia considered her words. “That’s… rather insightful.”

“Meh, I have my moments.”

“Though,” Octavia said with a grin, “you’ve been quite talkative tonight."

“Well, it’s not like I never talk. Besides…” Vinyl once again fidgeted in her seat, “You kinda make me want to talk."

Octavia felt a warmth in her cheeks. She immediately faced out the window and let the cool night air wash across her face, trying to ignore the wheels turning in her head.

“Here you go, dearies,” said Mrs. Cake, returning with their orders—an ice cream sundae for Vinyl and a hot chocolate for Octavia. They thanked her, and she moved to the next table.

Even at this late hour, Sugarcube Corner was buzzing with noise and activity. Most of the clientele were students from Canterlot High, packed into nearly every available space and chatting excitedly among themselves about the night’s events. Octavia and Vinyl had been lucky to grab a booth shortly after arriving.

Vinyl shot an amused look at Octavia’s order. “Hot chocolate? Really? It’s Spring, you know.”

Octavia hunched lower in her seat. “It always makes me feel better when I’ve had a bad day,” she replied defensively.

“Hey, it’s cool!” Vinyl said quickly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I wasn’t making fun.”

Octavia looked at Vinyl’s hand out of her periphery, smiled, and took a sip.

They spent a few minutes simply enjoying their treats, though Octavia could tell her companion was deep in thought, pausing between bites of sundae and staring off into space with her spoon dangling from her hand.

Sure enough, Vinyl eventually said, “So, Tavi— Do you mind if I call you Tavi?”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “I suppose not.”

“Cool. So anyways, Tavi... Is everything okay?”

“Okay? What do you mean?”

“C’mon, I saw you back at the amphitheater. The way you were just sitting there like a lost puppy, staring off into the distance. And you just said that you drink hot chocolate when you have a bad day. It’s pretty obvious something’s bugging you, so spill it.”

Octavia looked at her, then turned back to her cocoa with a sigh. “Oh, it’s nothing important. I wouldn’t want to bother you with it.”

“Aww, don’t be silly. I told you before, I like to listen. That’s what friends do, right?”

“F-friends?” Octavia said quietly, more to herself than Vinyl.

“Well… sure! C’mon, bend my ear.”

Though the idea of telling Vinyl what was bothering her wasn’t all that appealing to her, Octavia sensed the other girl wouldn’t rest until she… What was the word? ‘Spilled’?

She took a deep breath. “Well, alright…” She took a drink of her cocoa for courage. “I guess… with everything that’s happened lately—the Dazzlings, the Battle of the Bands, and so on—I’ve just been… thrown for a loop.”

“Yeah, it’s been pretty wild, but…” Vinyl tapped her chin with her spoon. “It wasn’t really all that bad, was it? I mean, everything turned out fine.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” she replied with a snort. “You came out of it looking like a hero, while I made a fool of myself.”

“You mean that spell thing the Dazzlings had everyone under? Because you weren’t the only one effected by it. No one’ll hold any of that against you.”

“It’s not about everyone else. I’ll hold it against me.”

Vinyl watched her closely, but remained silent.

Octavia took another sip, swishing the comforting liquid around with her tongue before swallowing. “How I acted while under their influence…” she continued. “That isn’t who I am, Vinyl. They got me to betray everything I believe in as a musician. I love music! It’s my passion! I signed up for the Musical Showcase because I hoped it would give me a chance to celebrate the music that I love and share it with others. But then those three… ‘girls’—” She made air quotes with her fingers. “—made it all into a debased competition. I would never have agreed to that, if I had known. It’s… well, it’s beneath me, to be honest. That might sound arrogant, but it’s how I feel. That’s not what music is about to me, and I try to comport myself with some semblance of dignity.” She took a deep breath and released it in a bitter exhale. “But I got sucked into it anyway, in spite of myself. And I was humiliated as a result.”

Vinyl opened her mouth to respond, but Octavia cut her off.

“Yes, yes—I know. It was magic!” She wiggled her fingers for emphasis. “But that doesn’t really change anything. At least… not to me. When I think of the way I behaved—the arguments I got into, and the things I said about Sunset Shimmer… Can I really just blame that on a spell? Or are those hateful things buried somewhere inside me, just waiting to get out?”

She felt Vinyl staring at her as she drained the rest of her cocoa in one mighty pull.

“And to add insult to injury,” Octavia continued with a humorless chuckle, setting her empty mug down with more force than was strictly necessary, “I didn’t even win the contest. I devote my life to perfecting my art, and I get my clock cleaned by a pop rock group in the first round.”

“Well, honestly, that wasn’t very fair,” Vinyl opined. “For one thing, you were playing two entirely different styles of music. How do you even go about judging something like that? And for another, how is one person with an acoustic instrument supposed to stand up to six people with amps?”

“Maybe you’re right,” Octavia murmured, eyeing the bottom of her mug.

“Of course I’m right! Look, I’ve heard you play, and you’re good. Like, really good. You have absolutely nothing to worry about, believe me.”

“You’re just saying that…” she said, trying and failing to fight off a blush.

Vinyl leaned forward to catch her eyes. “No. I’m not.”

“But… you don’t even like classical music.”

“Says who?” Vinyl countered, eyebrows furrowed. "Remember what I said earlier? Good's good, no matter the genre. Just because I like dubstep and stuff doesn’t mean that’s all I like. So take it from someone who knows: You sounded great." She turned back to her ice cream, crossing her legs under the table. “And as far as the other stuff goes... I'll admit I don't know you very well, but you don't seem like you have a 'hateful' bone in your body. Heck, I'd say the fact that you're worried about it proves that you're a good person. I mean, would a bad person even care? So don't sweat it, 'kay? You seem like a really cool girl." She hesitated briefly, then quietly added: "That's what made me want to talk to you in the first place."

Octavia’s eyes widened. She stared at Vinyl, searching for any sign of sarcasm or mockery and finding none. The blue-haired girl simply finished off the remnants of her sundae, seemingly oblivious to Octavia’s reaction.

“I see,” the cellist said finally. She nervously passed the empty mug from hand to hand across the tabletop. “And do you still think so? That I'm 'cool', I mean?”

“Yeah,” Vinyl said with a smile and no hesitation. “I mean, you could stand to have more confidence in yourself. But yeah, you’re cool.”

“Thanks,” Octavia said with a shy smile of her own. “And sorry for being so whiny and dramatic. It’s just… a lot to take in, you know? It’s really forced me to take stock of everything.” She snorted. “And, if nothing else, the fact that magic is real will take some getting used to.”

Vinyl laughed. “I know, right?”

Octavia laughed along, though it was half-hearted and slowly died in her throat. After a brief moment of silence, she said, “I came to a troubling realization earlier, back on the hill.” She tongued the inside of her cheek before continuing, “Something is missing.”

“Missing?” Vinyl asked with a raised eyebrow.

“From my life.”

“Oh.” Vinyl fidgeted with her arm warmers. “Do you know what it is?”

“I haven’t the foggiest.”

Octavia turned and looked at the other girl, and Vinyl met her eyes. For a quiet, unmeasured moment, they regarded each other, purple and magenta orbs volleying unspoken questions through the air between them. All the sound in the bakery, all the other customers, faded away, forgotten, and that same fluttery sensation from earlier crept back into Octavia’s stomach. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again in silence.

The moment was effectively demolished by the return of Mrs. Cake.

“So, how was everything?” she asked.

They both gave a start, looking away from each other.

“A-awesome!”

“Yes, very good. Yes…”

Mrs. Cake smiled. “That’s what we like to hear.” She took their dishes and left.

A silence draped over the two of them, and for the first time all night it wasn’t especially comfortable. It was a heavy silence. Expectant. Uncertain.

Octavia shifted in her seat, then moved to stand. “Well, I’d better be going.”

Following her lead, Vinyl got to her feet. “Hey, you need a ride?”

“Oh, no, it’s fine. There’s a bus stop just down the street from my house.”

“A bus?” Vinyl said skeptically. “Pfft! Forget that! I can’t you wandering these dangerous city streets all by yourself.”

“Canterlot’s one of the safest cities in the state,” she countered, looking at her flatly.

“Beside the occasional siren or she-demon, right?”

Octavia blinked. “Touché.”

“See? We girls have to look out for each other."

Octavia held a hand to her forehead in a mock swoon. “My, how chivalrous!”

With a dashing smile, Vinyl offered her arm to Octavia. “Shall we go, milady?”

“Very well, Dame Knight.” With a poorly concealed giggle, she took Vinyl’s arm. “Let us away!”

Arm in arm and laughing among themselves, they walked out of Sugarcube Corner and into the night.

Author's Note

~~Interesting~~ Fact: I originally intended to write Vinyl as mute.

Turns out... that's kinda hard. Especially in a story like this. Besides, dialogue is one of my favorite things to write, so... yeah. I scrapped that idea.