I Will Break The Silence

It was Saturday at the Scratch household some days after the events at the junkyard, and yet Vinyl was still incredibly sore. She had gotten a good scolding from her mother upon her arrival home that day, though she eased up a bit after she found out she did it for a girl. Under the circumstances she was only grounded a week rather than two. The penalties of this grounding were that she was not allowed to use her phone for purposes other than writing and she couldn't leave the house except for school. The obvious problem with this though was seeing as how Alexa worked seven days a week, only one of which was at home, there was virtually no way to enforce this and so Vinyl was now laying on her bed listening to music with her shades on and eyes closed.

She tried to focus on the music she was trying to listen too but it wasn't working. No matter how much she wanted to empty it, her mind was so preoccupied by the bombardment of her thoughts that she could find no peace. Her and Octavia had been doing a good deal of texting to each other since Vinyl was grounded as it was the only way they could communicate at present, and even then only when V's mother wasn't home or being too observant. Right now she had nothing to do but think since Octavia was attending Cellist lessons for the next three hours.

Neon was on a date with Water Melody, and Sunset and the others we're busy working on some kind of project making use of the schools lab. While she had tried watching YouTube, listening to music, and even playing Tetris, nothing could take her mind off of one topic in particular,. More specifically one person in particular. The Raven haired angle, as Vinyl would call her in her mind, was at the forefront of all her thoughts. Try as she might the only thing she could think about was the girl she was crushing on. More and more with each day no less.

They were friends now, and for the first time Vinyl no longer had to hope to bump into her on "accident" or admire from afar. No, now she could text with her and meet up to have fun or just chat over coffee. Heck, they were spending more time talking now than her and Neon usually did! So why was she less content than usual, probably if she had to guess more than ever? She let out a quiet sigh of frustration with a small pound of her fist on her bed to join it. She knew why but had no way to vent or change it that came to mind.

She was friends with Octavia, good friends in fact but at the same time while she loved being around her she wasn't happy with just being friends, she wanted more than that. But what could she do? It wasn't fair to pin this on Octavia and she had no way of being able to know how she felt about her. She had no way of knowing if the feeling was mutual or if it would drive her away. Much as she wanted more from Octavia than friendship, the Idea of scaring her off worried her more than it hurt to be stuck where she was.

Life felt like purgatory. sometimes she was happy and would find a joke funny or be able to enjoy her music and hanging with Neon or the other girls, but then she would hear a song or see an image or something on the TV and all the pent up frustration of being stuck would come roaring into the forefront of her mind and take over the next several hours of her day. All she could do was sit and dwell on how much she was frustrated and how much it sucked.

She rolled onto her side and pounded the bed again, this time harder and recoiled with a hiss. Her hand was still sore and bruised from her scrap with Granite Brick. People always seem to forget that when you punch somebody it hurts your hand as much as it hurts the person taking the blow. Especially so if you hit something hard like the scalp or the elbow. She curled and uncurled her hand to ease the pain a bit. She may have been bruised and sore from head to toe and still limping if she moved faster than a walk but it was worth it. On the same note she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy a good scrap every now and then anyways.

She felt herself starting to laugh through her nose and was quick to clutch her stomach in pain. It still hurt to breath if she took one that was too deep. Those cheep shots that prick had taken were in no way light blows. Looking down she lifted up her shirt off her belly to see a large dark purple blotch the size of a soft ball. It was indeed still prominent and likely would be for a few more days, the soreness had gone down to a dull occasional throb but if she moved she was soon reminded of that eventful day.

She pulled the shirt back down and sat up on her bed. Moping and whining wasn't gonna get her anywhere, what she had to do was figure out what she could do to make this feeling of angst go away. The question was, how was she going to do that?

/l---)O(---/l\

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Octavia carefully drew her bow across the strings of her cello, her movements were poised, precise and near perfect. Her talent and training were both on display as she played in front of her instructor. The prim, proper, and stern but sweet Miss Fleur or as the musical world called her Fleur De Lis de la voix de soie, was a retired singer and cellist from overseas. Despite speaking with a thick, yet charming to many, French accent she was versed well in English, Spanish, German and French. She could sing in any of these languages and with the beauty of an angle as many men and the occasional woman would say, she had spent some time modeling as well.

With such a glamorous, well lived life and more than enough money to retire several times over it was, in the eyes of most in the community, very strange that she had decided to take up being a private tutor for aspiring cellists. Whenever this question came up her typical response was, "Why, because I love music monsieur and it is my gift to others now." She was one of the most sought after woman in all of Canterlot and although he had put up a good effort even Fancy Pants had failed to convince her to go out to dinner with him.

Any time someone asked her to a party or a dance as their date or on rare occasion simple offers of marriage she would simply smile and say "My apologies but music is my only love now." To everyone in high society she was this strange unattainable thing, like a mermaid or a siren always sought after but forever out of reach to all. To be honest that was how she liked it, at least the cheeky playful part of her did.

Octavia's hand continued to skillfully pull the bow across the several strings of her mahogany instrument, each pull and push of it creating sweet melody pleasing to the ears of all present. As she finished the final note and brought the song to an end her teacher smiled and began to clap the back of her hand lightly in approval.

"Magnifique ma chere Octavia! You have done most excellent."

"Merci beaucoup Miss Fluer!"

"Ah, I see your French is coming along most splendidly no?"

"Yes thank you." Smiled the cellist.

"Your lessons for today are done but could I interest you in some tea?"

"Yes of course Miss Fluer thank you." Replied Octavia.

The elegant woman before her burst into a light lady like laugh.

"No no no no, just call me Fluer, Octavia, we've been doing these lessons too long not to call each other friend."

"Of course, Fluer."

The woman smiled and gave a small nod as she led the way to the living room and called out in her elegant voice for the maid. Soon after the young woman appeared.

"Yes madam?"

"Could you please bring us some tea and biscuits Lilly?"

"Yes of course what kind does her lady wish for?"

"The earl grey S'il vous plait."

"Oui Madam, right away."

The maid quickly departed and the lady of the house turned back to her guest.

"Octavia I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes of course Fluer, what do you want to know?"

"You know you are my Protégée yes? There is a concert at the Canterlot Pavilion in two weeks time. I want to recommend to the manager of the party that he hire you for a performance there, if you would like to perform of course."

"Oh, yes Fluer I would love that!"

"Oui, then it is done, I shall notify him tomorrow! You can even bring a plus one as you will be a performer."

Octavia beamed, this was going to be wonderful! She could hardly wait to tell Vinyl and her friends about this!

/l---)O(---/l\

As Vinyl shuffled about the house in her pants, a bra, and a pair of grey sweat socks with black trim, she continued to feel the angst in her mind. She was still suffering from thinking too much about Octavia and the more she thought about her the more she wanted to see her, be with her, kiss her-"No Stop it! Bad DJ! Bad brain, shut up!" She sighed again with her hand placed on her bruise preemptively to help deal with the pain from her injuries.

"No matter how hard I try I can't stop thinking about her!"

She closed her eyes, thinking about the cellist she so often dreamed about both at day and night. Her long black hair and piercing purple eyes. The way she had taken care of her cuts that day of the fight. She was beautiful in both body and mind, and her music oh her music...Vinyl had only heard her play once at the battle of the bands. A chance to hear her crush play her cello was one of the few things that could convince her to take her headphones off. That day though...oh how she'd played with each pass of the bow on those strings, she felt her spine get colder and her skin prickling.

In a way, they were two of the same kind. They both cared about their friends, they both loved their music, and that was just the beginning of the reasons she liked her. Her gift for music was wonderful and she was one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen, Vinyl had been crushing on Octavia since she was a freshman. She had seen how Octavia treated everybody around her with respect and kindness, she loved the way she put passion into everything she did whether she was playing the cello or listening to music. She was brave too, stepping out of her comfort zone like she had done on the day of the raid must have taken guts, and even though she was rich she never thought she was better than anybody else. At school and after, she treated everybody like they were on the same level as her, she treated them with respect and kindness.

Vinyl finally came to a realization as she stared down at her grey sweat socks with black trim.

"I don't have a crush on her...I'm in love with her..."

/l---)O(---/l\

While Octavia was on her way home she found herself thinking very hard about who her plus one should be if the manager of the concert accepted Fluer's proposal. She was virtually certain they would though, when it came to music and fashion you doubted Fluer De Lis at your peril. She could ask Water Melody but given when the Concert was and how much she raved about Neon and their weekends together she figured it would be best not to get in the way of that.

As she thought about it she decided that, assuming Vinyl wanted to go, she would be a good choice. They were friends, though relatively new ones, and this would give them a chance to bond and spend time together. Also, if she was being honest, the Idea of showing off to her new friend was an appealing one to the slightly more vain side of her. She made a small smile at that, showing off once in a while was ok right? Yes, Vinyl was the best choice out of the options, assuming she wanted to go. Reaching into her purse she produced her phone and went through her contacts. as she searched she saw the time was three PM. Finding Vinyl, she hit the call button.

/l---)O(---/l\

Vinyl stood still, looking down at her socks, she was stuck, unable to stop thinking it over and over.

"I'm in love with Octavia, it's not just a crush *I'm in love*!"

She was finally pulled from her reverie when she heard her phone's text notification go off. Running back to her closet she pulled open the door and grabbed the phone, wondering who it was that had texted. When she saw the name she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Hello Vinyl! I have great news! My cello teacher is going to recommend me for a position in a concert and I get a plus one! Would you like to come and hear me play?"

With wide eyes she furiously pecked at the keypad to give a reply as soon as possible.

"Hell ya Octy! Count me in when is it?"

"Two weeks from now! Oh I'm so excited!"

"I'll be there for sure! Already adding it to my calendar!"

Thanks Vinyl! See you later!"

Vinyl closed her phone after the last text with a sigh. On the one hand she was happy, Octavia had got great news and she was going to get to spend more time with her! But on the other Vinyl wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to be happy with just being friends. She exhaled through her nose sadly. She would rather have Octavia in her life as a friend than not at all. For now, and as long as she could, she was going to keep her feelings hidden.