She Doesn't Smile

by Pyromaniac

Rating: teen
Tags: Lyra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Carrot Top, Octavia, DJ P0N-3
Length: 1797

Vinyl Scratch awkwardly navigates breaking the ice with her crush.

A highschool Vinyl Scratch attends a Hearth's Warming Eve party with her friends, but things quickly get awkward when they push her into speaking to her crush.

A short, cute and fluffy fic for Hearth's Warming Eve. Happy holidays, everyone!

Content warning for underage drinking.

Published 2019-12-25 16:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2019-12-25 16:20:02 UTC

The Transfer Student

"Oh give it up, Vinyl. She doesn’t smile."

Vinyl Scratch jolted, startled out of a daydream that caused her face to flush bright red. Golden Harvest scoffed as her hoof collided with the ground, rolling her eyes.

"I don't get what you're saying," the ivory filly feigned a cough into her foreleg, shielding her cherry cheeks. Her heart was pounding in her chest, embarrassment causing blood to roar in her ears.

"Give it up, we all saw you making goo-goo eyes at Octavia,” her friend huffed, taking a long sip from a mug full of dubious liquid.

"Stop teasing her, Carrot Top," a minty green unicorn in the group let out an airy giggle. The scent of alcohol drifted from her lips as she leaned in close to her friend, slapping her hoof against the earth pony's shoulder. She was met with a grimace, the more than slightly intoxicated filly being pushed away.

"Lyra, that nickname is so embarrassing…" Golden Harvest looked aside, hurriedly burying her snout in her cup to take another sip.

"If you like her, you should talk to her!" Lyra turned to look at Vinyl, her hazy eyes betraying that a healthy serving of punch had left her brain at the door.

"Oh- I don't know," the filly rubbed the back of her neck, pulling the bright blue scarf around her neck over her face. Her voice was forceful and indignant, as if she was trying to convince herself, not her friends, that her words were true, "There's no way she'd talk to a pony like me. She's a transfer from Canterlot. Canterlot! And she never talks to anypony anyway, just stares at them! She's totally a snob."

"How much of a snob can she be if she came to a house party?" The mint filly cut in, tail swishing.

"Honestly, who wouldn't come. Pinkie always throws the best parties." Golden Harvest took a large gulp of her drink, polishing the bottom of the ceramic with her tongue. "The Cakes are out of town, and she always gets her hooves on the good stuff to share when they are."

"I don't know how that helps me talk to-"

"Vinny! Vinnyyy," shaky hooves rubbed themselves all over Vinyl's face, she instinctively jumped back a hoofstep. "C'mon now, girl."

A glass, overfilled with a purple liquid that sloshed over the rim and narrowly missed staining Vinyl's fur, was floated over by a magic glow. Lyra had a lopsided grin, her eyebrows dancing. Vinyl hesitantly pushed the cup aside, giving her companions a nervous grin.

"No, no, I get it… I'll talk to her,” she sighed with resignation, pulling herself to trot into the crowd to find the lady she sought.

"Ten bits she'll blow it." Golden Harvest let out a breath, swiping the glass of punch from Lyra's mystical grasp.

"I hesitantly accept that bet."

❄❄❄

Octavia hovered in the corner of the room, hoof wrapped tight around an obnoxiously pink mug with "Live. Laugh. Love." scribbled on the side on yellow. The ceramic dish held a ladle's worth of Pinkie Pie's Punctual Persimmon Punch. She didn't trust the smell, but held it tight as a way to ground herself among the crowd. Ponies were everywhere, all of her classmates and some ponies she didn't recognize were crowded into the after-hours bakery, the music was pounding so loud she couldn’t make out the beat as much as the way the speakers made the floor shake. She felt as if any second she'd burst into tears if the social pressure to stay cool didn't suffocate her. She stared into the cup, jaw clenched tight, as she noticed a reflection in the liquid's surface.

"Hey."

Octavia looked up to see a white unicorn with a scruffy blue mane just inches from her. Her heart beat like a drum, acutely aware of how her limbs trembled uselessly.

"He- hello," she returned curtly. It felt like a monumental effort to keep her voice even.

The filly before her itched her fetlock, glancing around a bit.

"My name is Vinyl Scratch. We, uh, we have Equestrian history together," her smile was shaky, and Octavia wondered if she felt just as anxious as her.

"I'm Octavia," the gray filly paused for a moment, wondering where to go from there. Her head hurt, mental alarms blared and she found herself wishing she hadn't come.

"Do you want to get out of here? It's really noisy."

Octavia perked up with the suggestion, her lilac eyes glittering, "Please?"

She set down the mug cautiously, looking around before trotting after Vinyl as they weaved their way through the sea of bodies. The pair found themselves often having to sidestep at the drop of a hat to avoid being bumped by an aggressively swaying flank. With tremendous effort, they finally managed to slip out the front door of the shop, into the snow-capped streets outside.

Octavia let out a shuddering breath, watching it freeze in the air. Shivers crawled under her skin, her knees trembling, her jaw clenched tight from the weather. She took in a frightened breath as she felt something wrap itself around her throat. Her hoof brushed against it, tilting her head down to see a warm, vibrant scarf being tied around her neck with a magenta glow.

“You looked cold.” Vinyl Scratch blurted out, she felt a bit dumb after the words slipped from her lips. Octavia felt warmth spread in her cheeks, patting the cloth once again.

“You didn’t have to, isn’t it cold for you also?” She asked, her head cocked to the side like a curious dog.

The unicorn replied with a shrug, “You get used to Ponyville’s winters when you’ve lived here since forever.”

The gray filly nodded, snuggling into the fabric to defrost her already tingling muzzle. She stamped her hoof into the snow beneath, vision tracing the outline of the print it left behind.

“So, why did you want to talk to me?” She asked, her voice small and quivering now that they were alone, only the expanse of the glowing night to bathe them.

“I-” there was a moment of hesitance, words frozen like the ice crystals dancing in the air, “I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure?”

“Maybe I just wanted to be your friend,” she shrugged, her pinkish eyes cast upwards to gaze at the starless sky.

“Ah.”

“Why’d you move here anyway? Isn’t Canterlot a ton nicer?” Vinyl kicked snow up with her hoof, scrambling to scrape together some kind of conversation. Although she approached Octavia first, she hadn’t believed they would get this far.

“It’s loud,” she had to admit to herself, Vinyl had not expected an answer like this. “I couldn’t stand how loud it was.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Octavia shuffled around, a familiar knot in her stomach, “My Momma thought that I’d do better moving to a smaller town. Not as many ponies.”

Vinyl reached out to tenderly pet the other filly’s back, but withdrew as she watched her flinch away.

“As long as I can remember,” Octavia looked up, her eyes meeting Vinyl’s, “I’ve always been like this. Just being around other ponies makes me want to cry.”

“Why were you at a party then?” The unicorn winced at her own question, aware a bit too late that it was rather rude, “I mean, if you hate being around ponies.”

“I thought maybe… perhaps I’d get over it if I just made myself be around others,” her voice was trembling, even turning away couldn’t conceal the tears just begging to tip over and spill onto her cheeks, “But it didn’t really work.”

“Why did you come with me?” Vinyl’s voice was soft, carrying timid compassion for the other filly.

“I wanted somepony to get me out of there,” she hugged her hoof against herself, “I’m a little glad it was you.”

The unicorn was dumbfounded, her eyes wide, she could only squeak out a lame, “Why?”

Octavia exhaled harshly, her eyes burning with unshed nervous tears, “I’ve had a… bit of a crush on you for a while.”

“S-so have I!” Vinyl found her mouth moving faster than her brain once again, “But I- I thought you thought you were too good for a small town foal like me!”

A grimace tugged at the earth filly’s lips, her sooty fur glowing red in the face, “No, it wasn’t like that…”

The two stood in tense silence, the air pregnant with awkwardness. Clouds crawled their way across the rooftops, fresh snowflakes dancing down around the fillies.

“Then we should go on a date,” finally, Vinyl stuttered out the words, her face the color of a fresh tomato ripening in the summertime. The other filly stared at her incredulously. Their wide eyes met, both seemingly unable to pry their gaze away first, “I mean- I mean if you want to, we could hang out somewhere alone and get to know each other-”

“I’d love to.” Octavia hid her face in the scarf, her chest feeling weirdly full. This emotion was new, it was warm and a bit tingly, but she decided she had enjoyed it.

“Then, um, tomorrow let’s go get lunch together,” she laughed a bit nervously, feeling as if she’d swallowed a million butterflies whole.

“Let’s,” Octavia’s eyes sparkled with a smile that could only barely tease at her lips, an expression that was easily hidden in the flurry of delicate snowflakes that tenderly licked her cheeks. Vinyl stared ungracefully for a few moments, her face hot enough to melt ice. Her heart felt as if it were made of cotton candy and bits of teddy bear stuffing.

She’s rather beautiful, Vinyl Scratch thought to herself, giggling under her breath, for somepony who doesn’t smile.

Somewhere in the distance, Lyra Heartstrings was ten bits richer.

Author's Note

Happy holidays, everyone! This is sort of a quick fic I did in a couple days, it's not got a lot of plot, it's more meant to be an exercise in cute shippy goodfeels than any serious story.

Also I haven't watched MLP in like five years so if this is non-canon compliant, that blows. :applejackunsure:

For those who read my journals and author's notes, this is my first fic that an alter helped with! Collabing with your own brain is fun. :yay: She goes by Purple Star online and she helped me rewrite some things to flow a bit better, so let us know what you think.

That's all for my author's notes on this story. Have a great day, whether you are spending it with family, friends, or by yourself. I hope you are safe and loved by everyone you are surrounded with, and if you're not, then I love you. :heart: