About five days have passed by since your one-sided altercation with Octavia. You figured it would be best not to involve yourself with her anymore since what happened. You spent the next three days after that getting up early, with decent sleep of course, and walk your way to the record shop. you look up past the town and up towards the purple hued skyline, the sun just starting to creep over the mountains. The sun forming shadows over the town reminds you to increases your pace. You don't really make any stops for anything except only to say hi to Twilight and the gang and any other friends of yours you passed along the way. Now normally staying away from Octavia would be number one on your list but as if on clock work she sat outside of the store and waited for you.

“Ugh, she really will not just let it go huh?” You irritatingly think to yourself as you get closer to the store. The first two days you snuck in through the back to avoid her. That got annoying how ever since she would storm in as soon as she would see you and try to apologize but you ignored her and went into the back office to escape from it. Now you just face it like a man and just walk through the front. Your about twenty feet away from the door when she catches you out of the corner of her eye and starts to fidget in place, her face starts becoming a visible shade of red with fluster. You look at her with annoyance and proceeded to face on with what was coming next.

“G-good morning Mr. Anonymous. Lovely day isn’t it?” She asked timidly, trying to force a conversation between you two. You walked past her and grunted, acknowledging her and nothing more. Sure you could have been the bigger person and tried to let it go but it seemed like she was just going over a prewritten script, not something she truly felt. You groaned and sighed as you fumbled with the keys. “Great, twilights speech on friendship and what not is starting to rub off on me.” You think to yourself as you finally get the key to open the door and walk in, Octavia close behind.

Normally you would have told her the store is closed but Vinyl said it was fine after that day, said she was a good friend. You figured to just leave it be and not cause any issues. You start to begin doing all the tasks you need to open for business. Octavia takes her spot right next to you during the whole ordeal, slowly wearing you down mentally as you trip or bump into her every other minute. She’s definitely persistent to try to talk to you but it falls upon deaf ears. You pull up your headphones from your pocket and listen to something loud to drown it out. Rude? yes. Effect noise remover to focus on your day? Also yes. What should only take five minutes tops takes about forty with Octavia putting your nerves on its last legs. Another bump briefly sends you over and your about to scream and look at her but hold it back.

You look to Octavia who on all accounts looks like she could cry she looks so scared and the look of sadness on her face gives you a double take. You groan and proceed to place your head on the shelf and lightly tap in rhythm. You honestly now feel like a complete dickhead now and decided that you need to put an end to it. As you Stand up straight and remove your headphones you see the ears on Octavia’s head fold down preparing for any screaming coming her way. You rub the bridge of your nose, close your eyes and sigh.

“Look, if your gonna keep pestering me to talk then fine.” You say in a soft tone, you try and keep as calm as possible knowing an emotional outburst wont help. Octavia looks up at you, seeing that this is the first time you actually said something to her instead of a grunt or just the silent treatment. “Go take a seat up front and let me finish here. Should take five minutes, maybe ten.” You tell her as you continue to put new merchandise on the shelves. You look down on her through your peripherals and notice that she has a small smile on her face and nods, quietly trotting up to the front.

You finished your work within about eight and half minutes. You stretched your arms out and looked at your watch, about forty minutes till you open. Your eyes move towards the front of the store, daylight starts to break in thru the window, brightening up the store in a warm amber like glow. You see Octavia sitting on a beanbag looking out the window, seeing the town start to wake up with ponies starting the day. “Alright, better hear her out and get this over with.” You softly say to yourself as for her not to hear as you make your way up front. Instead of sitting down next to her you step off to the coffee machine. You turn your head slightly and see that Octavia looking at you patiently waiting. You adjust your head back to look at the machine.

“You want one?” You ask her. The question catch’s her off guard. “I beg your pardon?” She asks. You hold up a cup with your left hand and slightly shake it. “Oh, a cup would be nice.” She says as she figures out your question. “ Also two sugars and milk please if you don’t mind.” Octavia says and slightly starts relaxes a bit more in her seat. You nod your head and fix her cup first. You may have been in a foul mood but you still knew how to be a decent host. Once both cups are finished you walk over to her and place the cup down on the coffee table. You grab a normal chair and move it over closer and position it so the back is facing your chest. You take a sip of the hot liquid and sigh happily. You then place your cup down to look at Octavia.

“So what do I owe this....visit of yours Ms. Melody? You ask her in a tired tone. Octavia fidgets with her body, trying to get into a position on the chair. Your eyes keep on her, watching her face as she’s trying to figure out the words she wants to say. “I came here to....apologize to you Mr. Anonymous.” She starts to say.

“Anon.” You comment abruptly. She looks at you suddenly being caught off guard.

“I’m sorry?” She asks looking perplexed by your comment.

“Anon, it’s what everyone calls me. I’m not big on formality’s so just call me that.” You tell her and proceed to take another sip of coffee. She nods slowly. “ Right of course, Anon.” She says again softly to herself, trying to adjust to calling you with a more personal tone. she fixes her position again as she looks up to you.

"As I said before...Anon." she starts, looking even more nervous than before. "I came here to apologize for my horrid behavior the day we first met." you look at her to see if anything she says is disingenuous, so far no. so you keep quite and continue to drink your coffee. "I understand that I was wrong to treat you as such and I want to apologize and move forward to starting over on a fresh slate." she explains how she’s been under pressure to finish a new musical composition she was commissioned for and that she was getting more aggravated when she kept running into a dry spell. The day that she finished it was the same day you ran into her. After hearing that you really felt like a major ass hat. Octavia finishes Her apology and looks up at you waiting for your response. You sat through her whole apology and didn't see any sign of her no being truly regretful, probably due to you not talking to her added to it. Being a man of your word you figure out your own response to her feelings.

"Well I can't say I've been the best person to deal with the past couple of days." you say offering her a small smile.
"I think we can just call it even and move on from here." You say to her offering a hand to agree to put the past behind you both. She looks at you hand and smiles, offering her hoof in response. Both of you shake and equally sigh with relief that this whole conflict is over. You raise yourself from your chair and stretch your limbs, moving your head to the clock on the wall to see the time. About 20 min till you have to start the shift. As you regain some energy back into your legs you see Octavia move over towards the door. A thought comes to mind to help better mend the situation even further and to put you on better terms.

“Ms. Melody could you wait a moment please?” You ask her just before she leaves. She stops and looks back at you as you move towards her. “Do you by any chance have the music sheets I ruined?” You ask her curiously which leaves her with a bewildered look on her face. “Oh, I should still have them right here. Haven’t the heart to throw it away just yet.” She says to you in a somber tone. Her statement causes you to feel a pang of guilt in your chest but you put that feeling aside for the moment. “What do you want with it Anon?” She asks as she pulls it out from her bag and hands it to you. You gently remove the sheets from her and look through them. Seeing how badly the damage was to them made you regret not turning, back but you figured it was a shot with what you were going to suggest.

“With your permission Ms. melody I’d li-“
“Octavia please.”
It’s Your turn to be taken aback.
“I’m sorry?”

“If we are going to be formal with each other I’d like you to use my name as well please.” She states with a small smile and a whole lot of blush. You sheepishly grin and nod slightly. “Right of course, Octavia.” Her name gives you a funny feeling as you say it. “With your permission Octavia is like to keep your music sheets for a bit. I’d like to try and fix your composition as best I can.” You say to her in a hopeful tone. Her face can’t really figure out what expression to make so she stands in place wide eyed and slack jawed. After a few seconds she shakes her head and nods excessively. “Of- of course you can. If you think you can fix it then by all means.” She can’t keep her gratitude contained as she softly jumps up and down happily. She then realizes what she’s doing and composes her self. You can’t help but crack a smile knowing your making amends with her properly as fellow musicians. you place the papers on the counter and you walk with her to the door as she leaves.

“If you want to come to the theater house in a few days I should have it all ready by then.” You tell her as she exits the store and makes her way off into town. She looks back at you before she heads off. “What’s going on at the theater?” She asks with curiosity taking over her. You remember that you never told anyone yet as it was still a work in progress. “Oh well I’m working on recreating a musical from my world to preform here. Still have to finish the final stages of production but I’ll still have time to look at yours.” You tell her as you can feel your own blush start to form. Talking about passion projects always made you feel weird when discussing them with others. Octavia looks at you and smiles softly. “Well then I look forward to seeing your work then. Have a great morning Anon.” Octavia bows her head towards you and then trots off, leaving you there red as a tomato. Honestly your glad that you put your own pettiness aside and forgave her. She’s a great pony once you get to know her and you couldn’t help but see that she was indeed genuinely sorry. You lean against the doors bearing and sigh with relief. “Maybe we can actually become good friends after all.“ You think to yourself with a small smile. After about two minutes you get the feeling of being stared at and notice Vinyl just standing Right next to you causing your whole body to nearly jump out of its skin.

“JESUS Vinyl you scared the shit outa me!” You scream as you grab your heart and lean against the door being dramatic about it. Vinyl just stares at you and just sips her coffee without a care in the world. she then laughs to her self and smiles as she turns to walk inside to open for the day. “If I didn’t make my appearance known you would have stood there like a love sick filly. Come on man we’ve got work to do.” Vinyl makes her way inside and your left following her in feeling hot in the face. “Hey wait a min. I don’t have a thing for Octavia!” It finally dawns upon you what Vinyl had just said moments prior. She just continues to grins as she grabs more records with magic and makes room for new product. “Uh huh? And you totally weren’t staring at her flank just now drooling.” She remarks. You instinctively wipe your mouth and get red in the face Incase you did. You found out you didn’t and this causes Vinyl to laugh in response. Your face becomes even hotter and possible more red as you just start staring at the ground and become more flustered by it. Sure you may have just made up with Octavia but you aren't in love with her, you hardly know her.

"unless that coffee is causing memory loss V, you know I'm already in a relationship." If anyone would remember it would be Vinyl, she freely talks about how much she doesn't like her any chance she can get.

" Yeah I know the Miss Prim and Proper singer, I know your a thing. I'm just calling it as I see it dude.” She says as she walks over to the first customer of the day. You pick up were she left off on restocking and all the while, you couldn't help but have Octavia’s face float around in your thoughts all day.

Author's Note

I apologize for adding this chapter later than usual. Since this whole virus thing I’ve been working crazy hours since I’m an essential worker. Hopefully I can add more chapters at a regular pace