Octavia stared up at the ceiling as she lay in the darkness. Her heart pounded as the events of the past twenty minutes replayed in her head. Octavia had awoken from another one of her chronic nightmares, and was about to go through the tedious task to trying to unravel just what her brain was attempting to tell her when a strange feeling caught her attention. When she was roused she watched as her sleeping friend leaned forward so close. Vinyl had just been mere inches from her face, their muzzles almost touching.

What had she been dreaming about? She still felt her friend's warm breath against her muzzle as the memory played over again. Was she dreaming about me? Octavia's thoughts raced, robbing her of her ability to sleep. She rolled over to face away from her sleeping friend as heat crept up her face in a faint blush. She didn't know how to feel about the unicorn or about the situation she has found herself in. She didn't really know why this was such a big deal to her. She went out drinking, maybe it was the alcohol? She hadn't been awake after all.

She turned back over and stared back at Vinyl for a few more minutes before closing her eyes to try to drift back into sleep. After she had consolidated her thoughts she decided to pay a visit to Bon-bon in the morning to ask her for her input. Talking to someone about this may shed some light on th-, a sudden realization once again brought a crimson blush to her face. Did I whimper when she pulled away? She felt as though the heat would melt her skin as that particular part rose to the forefront in her mind. Oh dear...

*****

"Here's your tea Octavia, two sugars like you wanted." Bon-bon set a steaming cup of tea in front of Octavia. Octavia sipped it, grateful to have something to soothe her mind. "I didn't expect you do drop by, I honestly figured you thought I was a bit boring when we met yesterday."

After she woke up, Octavia excused herself to visit the cream colored mare after breakfast. The two had gotten to know each other when Vinyl went out with Lyra the night prior. The two gossiped and joked well into the night while Vinyl had taken the opportunity to take Lyra and go out and have a night out. Octavia was grateful to have time to spend with Bon-bon alone so she could discuss more sensitive subjects.

"Thank you Bon-bon, it really is quite delicious." Octavia took another sip as she mentally steeled herself for what may become a very awkward conversation. "So, you've known Vinyl for quite some time, correct?"

"Yeah, we've known her for a couple of years. She forgot to soundproof her floor and so one day we heard this really loud rave music." She chuckled as the memories came back to her. "Oh you should've seen the look on Lyra's face. It was a mix of sadness and anger. She was so upset that she wasn't invited to a party in the building and that it was right above her head. She dragged me up there to crash the party and I just rolled my eyes and followed to keep her out of trouble. Those two have been close rivals and best friends ever since." She snorted back a laugh. "I swear I'm the only voice of reason between those two, I had to talk a guard out of giving them a ticket one time after a snowball fight got a bit too heated."

Octavia let out a laugh at the thought of her roommate getting into so much trouble over something so small. When the laughter stopped she looked up to see Bon-bon giving her a genuine smile.

"I can honestly see something like that happening with Vinyl." She looked down at her tea as she searched for her words. "Has Vinyl ever...liked somepony before?" Bon-bon's smile slowly faded.

"Why? Did something happen?" Bon-bon frowned in concern at Octavia. The grey mare didn't know how to respond, just staring into her tea. Just as she was about to explain what happened the night prior, Bon-bon began to interject. "She had a special somepony before. Her name was Perfect Pitch, she was a singer for a rock group. They met at a bar that Vinyl was playing at and they hit it off fast. That's all I feel I SHOULD say, Vinyl and Lyra know the rest of the story but..." Bon-bon trailed off, trying to pick her words carefully as she thought. "What happened to bring this on?" Bon-bon looked at Octavia with concerned pleading eyes. The feeling of hot breath on her lips returned as she recalled the events of the night prior.

"Last night, I had a nightmare. When I awoke I felt her breath on my muzzle, I opened my eyes and there she was, her muzzle right in front of mine. She woke up and, I didn't know what to do so, I pretended to still be asleep, she pulled away from me and went back to sleep." Her blush deepened, becoming visible even through her dark coat.

"She kissed you?" Bon-bon seemed alarmed and slightly confused.

"I don't know, I woke up right when she pulled away." She stared once again at her tea which began to cool off. "And...don't know how to feel about it..."

"Don't know?"

"It wasn't as though it was and unpleasant sight." Octavia decided to leave out the part of her whimpering as Vinyl pulled away. She was too embarrassed to reveal such a thing to someone she had only just met the night before. If her blush hadn't been visible prior, it was then. Bon-bon was at a loss for words, her mouth moved as she began to say something but stopped and closed it again. After a while she finally settled on what she wanted to say.

"Does Vinyl know about this?" She almost whispered the question, as if afraid they might be overheard. The only response she received was in the form of a nod from the grey mare. "Alright, do you have feelings for her? You haven't know each other long and I don't know as much about you as Lyra does but, from what I've seen and from what I've heard from Lyra I can tell you two are close."

"Honestly, I don't know what I feel. Before Vinyl there was only the cold and the hostility of the city streets and, as if to insult to injury, I couldn't remember anything. But ever since she came into my life none of that matters anymore. I have a home, I have friends that care about me, and for once I don't care about my memory." That realization had been a recent one to her. "I've been busy making new memories to care about who I was in the past. I still want to learn about who I am but, I feel like even if I never remember, I'll be alright." Octavia smiled at her own words and felt tears begin to well up.

"That's really good to hear, Vinyl really does care about ponies, and I know she cares about you." Bon-bon passed a box of tissues to Octavia who used them to dry her eyes. "Don't let these confused feelings of yours affect your friendship. Vinyl has been hurt before, bad, and I know she would never do anything to hurt you or anyone else intentionally. I'm sure these feelings will sort themselves out if you're just open and honest with yourself." Bon-bon moved to sit next to Octavia on the couch. "I hope your memories come back, I really do. Just remember, you're not alone anymore." Bon-bon hugged Octavia.

"Thank you. You really are good friends." She hugged the candy mare back.

*****

"You're an idiot V!" Lyra groaned as she held her aching head. The green unicorn still had a massive hangover from the night before, one that Vinyl had almost fully recovered from, and the simple act of talking sent her into a world of agony. She wasn't happy with her white counter-part dragging her all the way upstairs, nor was she pleased with the idea of going shopping for party supplies at any point of the day.

"You're the one that wanted to go out for drinks Ly." Vinyl made sure to speak in soft tones so she didn't disturb her friend's hangover.

"You're the one that turned it into a drinking contest that caused this." Lyra lay on the couch, hoof over her eyes. The roaring sound of a blender nearly caused her to fall off the couch, sending her pounding head into an even more painful fit. After the noise stopped Lyra panted hard before groaning in pain. "Bitch." Was all she could muster up the strength to say.

"That's what you call a friend who's trying to help you feel better?" Vinyl walked out of the kitchen with what appeared to be a large glass of green slime. "Here you go, and by the way, you're the bitch after your stunt last night. Don't think I was too drunk to forget." She floated the drink down to Lyra.

"What is that? It looks like you just threw up a bunch of cilantro." The smell alone made the mare gag as she prayed to Celestia that it wouldn't come anywhere near her mouth.

"This, is the cure to all your problems. Mama Scratch's hangover fixer elixir! Patent pending." Lyra's eyes never left the glass of green horror.

"You were allowed to take that to the patent office and they took you seriously enough to not laugh you out of the room?"

"Oh just shut up and drink it you baby, whether I actually managed to give my idea to them seriously or not is neither here nor there." She brought the lip of the glass to Lyra's lips. Sighing in defeat, Lyra took a sip from the glass. The moment it entered her mouth she was overcome with the urge to throw up. She rolled off the couch and ran to the bathroom as quickly as possible. "See? Already put that pep back in your step!"

"What was in that!?" Lyra trotted back into the living room after throwing up the offending concoction. She did notice that her head stopped pounding and her lethargy had subsided. "Huh, I do feel better."

"Told ya! Oh ye of little faith, you shouldn't doubt the DJ that has no doubt had many hangovers through the years. As for the contents, this lovely elixir is a loving blend of Rage energy drink, bananas, ginger root, Fun-Yuns, grease, AND a super secret Scratch family ingredient." Vinyl brought over a glass of water to Lyra before continuing. "Many years ago, a stallion named 'Vinert Scratchenheimer' ran the 'Too Many Manehattens' project were he tried to create the-"

"Nope, didn't happen." Lyra cut the unicorn off, making it very clear she had heard many of Vinyl's fake history lessons and wasn't in the mood to hear another one.

"Fine, it didn't happen." Vinyl poured the green liquid down the sink's drain and began cleaning the glass. After she cleaned the glass out and put it in the dishwasher she walked over to Lyra and sat next to her. "Hey, can I ask you for some advice?"

"Sure V, though I think Bonnie is better at giving advice than I am." Lyra replied as she tried to focus on anything but the taste in her mouth.

"Yeah, but this is about what we talked about last night and I wanted to talk to someone that knows what's going on." Lyra looked at her quizzically.

"What's up V?"

"I think I may have...kissed Octavia last night." Vinyl blushed deeply as the words left her mouth.

"What do you mean MAY have kissed her?"

"I'm not sure if I did. I was asleep when it happened." Vinyl took a deep breath as she tried to remember exactly what happened. "I had a dream last night. Perfect Pitch was still here and she was laying in bed all sexy and such. I climbed into bed and held her and we kissed. When the kiss ended it was Octavia there and not Pitch." She looked to Lyra who was listening intently. "The dream ended and when I came to I was about and inch or so from Tavi's muzzle. I don't know if I did kiss her or not dude."

"V, if I may make an observation for one second?" She waited for Vinyl to nod. "You're an idiot."

"And this is why we go to your girlfriend for advice." Vinyl felt a hoof swat at the back of her head playfully, knocking her glasses loose.

"I mean, when you get hammered and start thinking about the mare that's on your mind, the last thing you should do is hop into bed with her." She looked Vinyl in the eye as she readjusted her shades to their proper position. "Alright, well, does she know about this?"

"I don't think so. She was asleep."

"Then there you go, she doesn't know. Nothing to worry about, business as usual, ya know?"

"What if it happens again? What if she wakes up then?"

"Then tell her. Look V, I don't know everything about the two of you, and I certainly can't tell you what to do. The only thing I can say is don't scare her off. If your heart tells you to tell her then do it, but don't let your heart ruin the first good thing to come into your life since Pitch. Look, take your time, everything will sort itself it for better or for worse. And trust me when I say me and Bonnie will be here to help out when you BOTH need it."

"Thanks Ly, I'll do just that. It's no biggie, just take my time and keep her around."

"Anytime V, now let's get this party set up."

*****

Vinyl and Lyra had barely managed to get the sound system set up after coming back with party fare and some mild Hearth's Warming decorations when Bon-bon and Octavia came to the door in a laughing fit from the conversation they were having. Vinyl figured she was the subject of conversation when the two mares laughed even harder at her after she inquired as to what was so funny. At least she assumed it was about her until Lyra came in and they started laughing even harder.

The small party was in full swing, Lyra had attempted to invite other residents of the building but had been turned down by all, leaving their party just a party of four. The four friends had little to do other than karaoke, which Lyra and Bon-bon had their fill of, earning uproariously laughter from the DJ and applause from Octavia, and dance to Vinyl's energetic music. In that time Octavia came to a realization that she had real and genuine friends to keep her company and not just the company of homeless ponies who sought nothing more than to use her tent which she had donated after realizing she may never need such a thing again.

Octavia stood next to Vinyl as she watched her work her magic on her mixing board, effortlessly flipping switches and toggles to create amazing sounds that made it hard for her to resist tapping her hoof. As she watched Vinyl enthusiastically create music out of meaningless sounds, clearly trying to impress the mare watching over her shoulder, Octavia couldn't help but notice the two other mares talking quietly to each other. Lyra whispered something in Bon-bon's ear which caused her to stare their general direction with a shocked expression. After a moment Bon-bon whispered something into Lyra's ear which caused her to do the same, after which the two shared some suppressed giggles. After watching Vinyl for a while Octavia decided to attempt to converse with her friend.

"How do you make it seem so effortless? I can barely make heads or tails of all the switches and buttons." Octavia had to half yell over the music seeing as they were next to the main speakers. Thankfully Vinyl hadn't turned them up loud enough to cause Octavia to develop hearing damage.

"Years of practice Tavi, it also helps that I built this from the ground up." She look back at her friend with a wide grin.

"You made this!? How does one even go about attempting to build one?" Octavia was a little taken aback at the fact that her friend had the technical know how to build such a complicated machine.

"It's not really that hard. I would go into detail but I don't want to bore you with an hour long explanation of the specs in this thing. Just so I'm clear, that's an hour per piece of hardware in this thing." Octavia was baffled at this new revelation of her friend's skill. The unicorn was becoming more and more complex in her mind as she thought of just all the things she's shown she could do.

After the music began to wind down, Lyra grabbed a chair and sat by a microphone that had been hooked up for karaoke and started to play a few songs on her lyre to wind the mood down to a more relaxed one. Octavia and Bon-bon sat on the couch as they listened and embraced the soothing melody whilst Vinyl began cleaning up messes and dishes from the party food they had consumed.

"You really are a lucky mare Bon-bon. You get to listen to such beautiful music whenever you please." She looked to the candy maker as she stared lovingly at Lyra.

"Oh if only you knew just what else she could do." She replied almost absently.

"Pardon? What else can she do?"

"Oh, n-nothing." Bon-bon looked away sheepishly as she blushed.

"Well whatever it is I'm glad you two are happy together. You two are a wonderful couple and I'm glad to have met the two of you." Octavia smiled warmly at Bon-bon who smiled back genuinely. Life was good for Octavia, such a short time had come since she was in a Hell all her own. She no longer could remember the feeling of being frozen as she trudged through the snow, nor could she remember the fear that when she went to sleep she may never wake up again.

*****

Midnight approached, only minutes away. Lyra and Bon-bon had left prior. The two had a tradition of counting down the minutes until Hearth's Warming Day and swapping gifts at midnight. Vinyl had picked up the same tradition since meeting the two and convinced Octavia to join her as she held a bottle of champagne in a magical grasp. Octavia was hesitant upon seeing the bottle after her last experience with alcohol but Vinyl had insisted it as a great way to celebrate and reassured her that it was non-alcoholic. The seconds ticked by, each bringing the new day closer. With only a few minutes away the two dragged their respective gifts toward them, ready to exchange at midnight.

The seconds of the last minute crept toward the twelve on the clock, drawing the minute hand toward the top position and bringing with it a chime followed by the loud pop of the cork popping off the champagne. The loud noise and sudden hollering from the unicorn startled Octavia, making her heart race from adrenaline. The two laughed as Vinyl poured two glasses with the sparkling fluid.

"Happy Hearth's Warming Tavi!" Vinyl exclaimed, holding up a glass.

"Happy Hearth's Warming Vinyl." Octavia replied as she tapped her glass against Vinyl's.

The two mares drank their respective drinks before Octavia passed her gift to Vinyl. It was a small square shaped item. Vinyl opened the gift, inside was a record, the sleeve was decorated with all sorts of vacation paraphernalia, from dice to cards, roses to guitars and even the words "Permanent Vacation" all clad in red.

"Aw sweet! Mareosmith! I don't have this one yet! How'd you know?" The unicorn was giddy with her gift, no matter how small Octavia thought it was.

"Lyra helped pick it out. I didn't know what to get you since I don't know you that well so she helped me pick out something from a record store." Octavia was glad to see the excitement on her friend's face, no doubt thinking how she was going to remix the songs within.

"Filly, you're awesome! Go on, open mine! I know you're gonna LOVE it!" Vinyl magically slid the large box toward her friend, eager for her to open it. "It's not really wrapped, it's a box that's decorated to LOOK like I put a lot of effort into it." Octavia pulled the lid off the box and peered inside. What the box contained surprised her.

"Vinyl, you didn't."

"I did, I know what you said, but I couldn't resist. The owner owed me a favor so he gave me a sweet deal on it and I just know you're meant to play it." She levitated the cello out of the large box and rested it and a bow in front of Octavia. "If it means that much then you can pay me back AFTER you take Equestria by storm."

Octavia looked over the cello with a familiar feeling in her chest. The main body of the cello was hoof carved out of mahogany, the scroll, peg box, and neck were carved out of a single piece of maple whilst the pegs themselves carved from a dark rosewood. The whole instrument had been varnished a dark brown while the back had strips of dark oak purfling to accent the intricate instrument while providing structural support should the cello be struck or damaged. Along the back of the scroll were faint glowing runes alluding to a rudimentary spell. Octavia ran a hoof along the chromium strings as a sound resonated deep within her. The instrument felt...right.

"I managed to get it for two-hundred ten and the bow thrown in for an extra thirty. Normally this would've costed about six-hundred bits, but of course I'm me so-" Octavia threw her hooves around Vinyl. "Hey, it's no big deal Tavi. Go on, give it a play."Wordlessly, Octavia pulled herself away and stood up with the bow in the crook of her foreleg. She held the bow against the strings but hesitated before lowering the bow.

"I'm not sure how." Octavia felt empty as she stared at the instrument, as if a breeze blew through her soul as the familiarity of the instrument rang true but the knowledge of how to play fell short.

"Here, I'll show you." Vinyl stood up and walked behind Octavia. She lifted her hoof up and positioned herself behind her friend raising her other hoof to the hoof board. "These runes are a tuning spell. It's a weak spell that keeps the cello tuned, it needs to be touch up every two months to keep this tuned appropriately." She moved Octavia's hoof around the board, naming of the notes of the strings. "This is the C string, here's G, D, and A." She dragged Octavia's bow hoof across each string as she named the off letting her friend come cellist hear each note. "And if we move a little lower we have C-sharp, A-flat..." She continued listing off notes and positions as she stepped closer to the novice cellist.

"How do you know so much about the cello? I thought you made electronic music?" Octavia blushed as she felt herself subtly lean into her friend's touch.

"I spent years learning two things growing up. Culinary Arts, I love to cook as you already know and you have yet to have my banana pancakes. And I studied Advanced Musical Theory since as long as I can remember. I learned many instruments in my time as I tried to find my talent, cello happened to be one of those." Vinyl slowly pulled back as she realized her close proximity to Octavia. She walked around to the couch and sat down on it. "Go ahead, play something. Don't think, just close your eyes and play what feels right. If I'm right then it should start coming back to you."

Octavia took a deep breath and did just as Vinyl advised and started playing. She wasn't perfect, she missed more notes than she hit and didn't have a proper flow, but as she played she felt the sounds resonate with her. Slowly her movements were filled with purpose as muscle memory returned to her slowly. Something about the instrument felt right with her. Tears flowed from her eyes as she felt joy overcome her.

Many long minutes passed before Octavia lowered her bow and stopped playing altogether. The minutes felt like an eternity to Octavia. The mere playing of the instrument was enough to leave Octavia exhausted as many emotions came over her. She set the cello aside on the stand that came with it and sat next to Vinyl.

"Well? Did anything come back to you?" Vinyl asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not." Just as the unicorn started to feel a small sadness creep up Octavia continued. "But I know it's right. I'm meant to play this, it's my destiny."

"I knew it, I could tell on some level. Must be some kind of musical intuition." She filled their glasses once again. "I'd say that calls for a celebration. Welcome Octavia, back to the musical world."

*****

The two mares leaned against each other on the couch, heads slightly fuzzy as they drank more of their non-alcoholic drinks. An hour had passed as Octavia continued to play for Vinyl before becoming too tired and resorting to leaning against her on the couch.

"Vinyl, why did you take me in?" Octavia asked a question that had been plaguing her mind since the day she met the DJ.

"I told you. You needed help and I wasn't going to let you suffer out in the cold when I could do something about it."

"No, the real reason." Vinyl looked surprised at that. "There has to be more than just wanting to help somepony. You don't just look at a homeless stranger then agree to let them sleep in your bedroom when you have no other room of your own." Vinyl seemed to be at a loss for words from that deduction. True, she hadn't welcomed the strange mare simply to help out, but she never gave it much thought as to why she had.

"I don't know really. I just felt like I needed to do this. I don't know. Helping a suffering pony, wanting a new friend, making up for past mistakes?" Why did she let her into her life? The question began to eat away at her as she thought back to her dream. Was I just lonely?

"Whatever the reason I'm glad you did. I might've died out there and no one would've paid me attention until the snow melted and my corpse was found." She looked at Vinyl with grateful eyes. She saw a golden opportunity as she had a good position to remove the unicorn's sunglasses. She remembered how she had never seen them and how Vinyl hadn't answered her about why she always wore sunglasses. "Vinyl...why do you wear those sunglasses? You never told me."

"I didn't?" Vinyl gulped as she looked at the earthpony's pleading eyes. She sighed as she began to speak. "It's stupid. I don't like ponies being able to see my eyes. I have trouble looking others in the eye and...they give me confidence. I got picked on because of how my eyes looked when I was in school and I-" She felt Octavia shift as she rolled onto her stomach and began to climb up Vinyl, eyes looked on those polarized lenses. "-don't...want...uh...Tavi?"

Octavia slowly reached up to take the glasses in her hooves. She stopped when Vinyl winced, but soon continued as she made no move to stop her. She lifted the glasses off her head and and gazed at Vinyl's closed eyes. Slowly her eyes opened, revealing two shining ruby red eyes. Vinyl look suddenly vulnerable and nervous as she saw her eyes reflected in Octavia's amethyst eyes.

"Vinyl?"

"Y-yeah?" The word was no louder than a whisper. Slowly Octavia climbed over Vinyl, eyes locked on those two ruby orbs.

"I don't think that champagne was non-alcoholic." She whispered in reply.

"What do you me-" Vinyl's sentence was cut off as Octavia drew closer and closer, now only centimeters away from Vinyl's lips.

*****

Octavia found herself outside in an all too familiar place once again. She looked to see an all to recognizable hill with a familiar cart barreling toward her. She braced herself for the painful impact as it knocked her from her hooves once again. She was surrounded by darkness once again, the same ringing sounding though her ears. She saw her injured form looking up at her once again, mouthing the same word over an over again.

The dream was the same as it always had been, Octavia staring at her bloodied form smiling sadly at herself. Just as her prone form was about to fade out of existence she heard hoofsteps. The unfamiliar sound drawing her attention as she saw an all too familiar white coat and two tone electric blue mane approach the injured form of Octavia. Wordlessly the mare placed a hoof on her mane and started to stroke it. Octavia closed her eyes as she felt that hoof against her own mane, comforting her. The distant sound of a cello accompanied by a lyre broke through the loud high pitch ringing and soothed Octavia to a better sleep.

Author's Note

For those that don't read my blogs, I set myself a deadline to have this chapter done and published on Christmas morning at 6 am-ish CST, I figured it would be a good contribution to Christmas especially since this chapter is Horse Christmas. Again this chapter just wrote itself and I like when that happens because it throws ME off, and I'm the author! Truth be told I feel a chapter could write itself and totally bomb and I wouldn't mind mostly because my mind and subconscious seem to know what they're doing better than I do when I TRY to write. If a chapter sucks then it has to be some sort of setup for a later time. That's not to say I don't try to put a lot of love and effort into these, the last thing I want is to write a terrible chapter.
Anyway, this one was difficult to write as this is the halfway point of the story and the turning point. Things are gonna be different and start to change at this point. I'm not going to allude to anything of course, spoilers and whatnot. I had fun writing this as I am bringing a couple things to a head but also because this is a good way to compress the story and make it easier on me while also giving me more to work with.
I noticed I doubt myself and my writing a lot. I'll throw something out there and be surprised when my proofreader tells me there isn't any major thing wrong and that I can upload as is. I of course go through and fix typos and change a few sentences to work better, but then again you'd be surprised how many people DON'T do that. I need to have more confidence in my work despite how bad I think it is, I'll always disagree with my own work.
One thing I know some (not all) will disagree on is my take on Vinyl's eyes for a couple reasons. Yes I know her eyes are magenta and not red, but that's close enough to me. There are two things from WAY back in the day for the brony fandom that I am a traditionalist on through and through, one of them being that Vinyl having red eyes. Don't like it, look at the tags and note the Alt. U. tag on there, boom, now you can stop ruminating on it. Another thing I've noticed is in a lot of fanfiction there is a constant theme of Octavia being stunned to see Vinyl's eyes for the first time (in fanfics where she hasn't already seen them) and I never really understood that. It adds a nice touch in the feels department but to me Octavia isn't the type of gal to just be flabbergasted at seeing someone's eyes for the first time, even if their the eyes of her best friend and they're an unconventional color such as red. Either way you look at it, I feel like it works and brings things together just fine.
Last, as some may noticed, I filled this chapter with references. Some are subtle and some are in your face, kudos to anyone who can see them all. And no I'm not sorry for that painful Aerosmith pun. That pun made ME mad, so of course I left it in to piss people off. Thanks everyone, next chapter should see a large change and should start moving even further forward and even slightly faster as I start to continue current unexplored arcs and start bringing more seriousness to this story.