Truth

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen

Chapter One

Vinyl Scratch never took things too seriously. She was a famous DJ, although she didn’t really care if anypony knew her name, so long as everypony was having a good time. She lived with her good friend Bon Bon… and for all intents and purposes, Lyra. Despite what can only be called a weird break up, she was still good friends with her ex… what more could she want?

The white unicorn trotted into her favorite place in all of Equestria. That is, besides behind her turntables. And at home on her bed. And where ever there was food to be eaten. Besides THOSE places, Scratch was in her favorite place; the record store. Scratch could spend weeks in the store if somepony would let her. The only problem, though, is that the colt who owned the record store, also owned the adjacent instrument store. As if on cue, somepony started playing… whatever Celestia-awful instrument they were playing. Scratch grimaced at the man behind the counter.

“Don’t you ever get sick of hearing this garbage?”

“Eh, you learn to tune it out.”

“Yeah, the same way you’d tune out somepony running over a toaster with a lawn mower.”

Scratch shook her head and tried her best to focus on finding a record that she hadn’t yet bought and exhausted. She needed something new, something fresh.

SCRRRRRREEEECH

Something that didn’t sound like a group of fillies with their parents pots and pans. Scratch shot a look at the guy behind the counter but he just smiled and shrugged it off.

“One more outburst like that, and Scratch’s gonna smack a mare.”

Vinyl Scratch mumbled to herself as she continued to peruse her options. With dread, she noted that the only place in the store she had left to browse was the new records part… the part of the store that was closest to the already wide open glass doors that lead to the instrument shop. Scratch heaved a sigh and pointed a hoof in the air.

“For music!”

She headed towards the section and did her best to find something worth going over there for. It wasn’t fast enough, though, as somepony had begun testing another instrument. The noise assaulted Scratch as if there was an electric toothbrush getting shoved into her ear. She grimaced in pain and shot a disgruntled look at the colt behind the counter. The colt behind the counter slowly moved his head in tune with the piece. Scratch grumbled to herself and went back to searching for a record. Truthfully, the piece was played with much emotion and, for as much as Scratch cared to admit, it was played quite well. Scratch shook her head and found the colt staring at her.

“Hey, if you don’t like it, feel free to go do something about it.”

“You know what? I will. This music is against the law. It makes me feel dirty and cheap.”

The colt shook his head as Scratch marched through the glass doors. She quickly slowed her pace, though. She had never been in this section of the building. Everything was white. The tiling on the floors, the walls, the ceiling. It was all a blinding shade of white. The glass on the counter tops was so clear that Scratch could see the dust bits on the harmonicas underneath. Not that there was much dust. Everything was so pristine…

“Ugh. Is this a music factory or a hospital? Must be a hospital ‘cause I don’t hear any music!”

Vinyl Scratch did her best to hide her true awe of the instruments and clean appearance, and continued her mission to find the music-killing culprit. The shop wasn’t too big, though, so it took no time at all for Scratch to find the musician. And when she did, she promptly ducked under a counter, barely missing the slightly outstretched edge.

Scratch couldn’t find her words. Her heartbeat was in her throat. She had no idea what instrument of death the pony was playing, nor did she hear the music anymore. Scratch let her emotions settle as she peeked over the glass counter top. Playing what looked to be… something. Scratch stopped caring about the stringed noise machine almost immediately.

“Wow…”

Vinyl Scratch had seen a lot of ponies. She was a DJ, seeing ponies was part of her job. But for some reason this pony took her breath away. She did everything she could to soak in the very essence of this pony.

“She’s beautiful…”

In the back of her head, Scratch was making fun of herself for loosing herself over this pony with horrible tastes in music. The light grey pony was very dignified in her movements. Each muscle in her body working in perfect harmony with the others to create a masterpiece. She almost looked like a robot, Scratch noted. Her body was one with the instrument and as much as Scratch loathed it, she was starting to dig the music. The grey pony held her last note and opened her eyes. Scratch ducked as her heart lurched into her throat. Those eyes. Those beautiful purple eyes. Vinyl Scratch could practically hear the hearts floating around her head, and she COULD hear her own voice screaming into her ears.

Hey. Wanna hear a funny story? It’s called, YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO THAT IS WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

Scratch jumped. High. When she landed back on the floor, she rubbed her head and looked up at a new colt looking down on her.

“Is there anything I can help you with today, miss?”

“Uh, just admiring this… uh… floor. Yep. It sure is a floor. Nice sturdy floor with a… holy Luna is that a dustmite? Bye!”

Though she currently had a throbbing headache, Scratch dashed out of the store the way she came. She had to hand it to herself, though; she sure did know how to get out of a situation. However, she dared not look back at the gorgeous pony she had just seen, after all, with all the white around, there was no way she could hide her bright red face.

Alright, bear with me. I'm still trying to figure this site out. There's plenty more where this came from, though.

Chapter Two

“This is so ridiculous, I don’t even…”

Vinyl Scratch shook her head at her own musings. It had been hours since she had seen the gorgeous pony in the music shop, yet she couldn’t stop thinking about her.

“Those eyes. Ugh.”

Scratch slammed her head against the back of the couch she was sitting on. How could somepony, who’s name she didn’t even know, be having this much of an effect on her?

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing for a while.”

Scratch’s head jerked up to see Lyra smiling at her from the doorway. It was the kind of sickeningly sweet smile that Vinyl had grown to loathe over the last year. What once was comforting to her had now become a symbol of, well, oppression almost. Scratch forced herself to smile back at Lyra.

“Didn’t hear you come in. How’s it hangin’, toots?”

Lyra made a face. She hated when Scratch patronized her like that.

“Everything is okay. How are you? You look upset. What’s on your mind?”

Scratch did her best to control her face into the smile she needed it to be. For so long, Lyra had been there for her. Lyra had been the shoulder that Scratch needed, that is, if Scratch ever actually needed it. Having been there for Scratch at all gave Lyra a way of reading the white unicorn eerily well. For somepony like Scratch who just loved life, though, there was rarely a need to go crying to anypony about a stubbed hoof. Broken glasses on the other hand… Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help the grin that stretched over her face.

Mare’s gotta have her priorities.

“Nothing’s wrong, dude. Where’s B-squared at?”

Lyra rolled her eyes. It was the one thing that Scratch knew she could do to get under her old friend’s fur. Lyra hated not having enough control to pull an answer out of her friend. And sometimes, getting Lyra irritated was all Scratch really wanted. Sure, Scratch tried her best to play nice for a long time, but there’s a certain time in everypony's life where the horseshoes have to come off.

“She’s your roommate, shouldn’t you know?”

“Hey, I just got in, boss. Besides, you’re the one dating her. Shouldn’t YOU know where your fillyfriend is?”

Lyra grimaced. She loved Bon Bon, nopony could ever argue that, but she also hated the term ‘fillyfriend’. Scratch knew she was really digging her hooves into the depths of Lyra’s patience. She smiled to herself. All things considered, Lyra put up with most all of Scratch’s remarks, but the DJ was also positive that she was only doing it to save face. Scratch knew that if she just kept pushing at Lyra’s buttons, she could make the minty menace go away. Maybe.

“Bon Bon should be here soon. She got off work at three today.”

Vinyl nodded and a silence swept over the room. There was a time where the silence wouldn’t have felt awkward. Vinyl considered trying to force some conversation, but realized that it would be about as easy as taming one of those noise monsters from the shop. For some unknown reason, that had absolutely nothing to do with the grey mare, Scratch’s mouth was suddenly watering.

Oh you are just the worst kind of pony.

Scratch smiled as she let her imagination take her back to the grey pony with the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen. She cast a glance at Lyra who was currently picking at her hooves. Yes, the unnamed pony definitely had the most beautiful eyes…

The front door finally threw itself open. Scratch grumbled as she had just gotten that pretty little bowtie off in the depths of her way-too-active imagination.

“Hey my mares!”

“Hey B-Squared!”

Lyra grimaced at the nickname but still readily accepted a kiss on the cheek from her beloved. Scratch averted her gaze to the far corner of the room and retched, audibly. This drew the ire of Lyra’s golden eyes but a chuckle from Bon Bon. Not that anything Scratch did at the time was relevant for too long; the couple was too busy eye molesting each other. Scratch coughed like she had just inhaled a baby dragon, finally breaking their gross mind humping. Lyra cast yet another disapproving glace at Scratch. Bon Bon’s cheeks brushed with a light pink before she turned to leave.

“I’m going to go shower and then we can head out. Are you coming tonight, Scratch?”

“Guh?”

“You know, a bunch of the gals from the shop and us are going to go get some dinner. You’re more than welcome to join. I thought Lyra invited you.”

“Ah, I’d love to, but I really have to wax my flank. With a, uh, rock. While juggling my records. With a, um, spoon. Should take all night.”

Again, Bon Bon laughed. Lyra watched as Bon Bon chuckled right into the bathroom. As quickly as Bon Bon disappeared, Lyra’s head snapped in Scratch’s direction.

“Are you mad at me or something?”

Lyra’s tone wasn’t as much concerned as it was demanding. Scratch knew that Lyra had no way of seeing the hatred brewing in her red eyes, but she still did her best to maintain her composure. Scratch wondered how it ever got to this point. How something so awesome turned into a raging hatred due to somepony’s inability to let sleeping ponies lie. Scratch didn’t like how she felt towards Lyra, but then again, Lyra did nothing but fuel it. In as graceful of a movement as she could muster, Scratch threw herself off the couch and headed towards the door.

“Nah. I’m not mad, Lyra. I just got ear assaulted today and I’m a little crabby about being so violated. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got muzzles to rock off. See ya. Have fun at dinner with Bizzle Squizzle.”

It was gorgeous outside. It was an uncharacteristically mild autumn day and the warm air brushed Vinyl's fur in a most pleasing way. The smell of a far-away rain reached Scratch's nostrils and she breathed in deeply, savoring the moment. It took only seconds, though, for her mind to wander back to exactly what she didn't want it to wander to; and she only wished she knew that grey pony's name! It was getting a little irritating to keep calling her "Grey Pony Who Plays Music Goodly". There just had to be a way to find out who she was, what she did, what her favorite flower was, if she was dating anypony, her size of horseshoe, and exactly how much she loved white-coated unicorns.

Vinyl Scratch looked at what she knew. This pony was obviously grey, with a flowing black mane, and amazing purple eyes. She played Luna-awful music but she played it well. It was the good kind of terrible. Her movements were graceful and meticulous. She was obviously some sort of robot because no pony that didn’t have magic…

She wasn’t a unicorn. That pony was an earth pony! Playing such beautiful, er, such stringy music. Now that was talent. Scratch nodded to herself, proud. She sure did know how to pick ‘em. A talented monster-tamer who didn’t even use magic.

Those are some talented hooves…

Vinyl lost herself in this thought for a moment. A long moment. A little too long of a moment, considering she was out in public. Eventually she realized she needed to get to know this pony, if nothing else, to say she knew the most talented earth pony in existence. But how? It wasn’t exactly as if there was a way to figure out where she was going to be at a certain time every day, doing the same thing over and over again. Like some sort of practice or something. A daily practice. But what? What would she possibly do every day? Scratch didn’t even see her cutie mark, so she had no leads on what she could possibly be good at.

“I got it! I’ll go see Pinkie Pie! She knows everypony!”

Chapter Three

"Nopey dopey!"

"What do you mean NO? Pinkie, c'mon! You know, like, everypony!"

Pinkie giggled and continued her bounce around Vinyl Scratch. Scratch tried to keep up with the constant pink movement but found herself getting a bit dizzy. And hungry for cotton candy for some reason. She shook her head to try and get back into the conversation.

"Honestly Pinkie, how many grey ponies can there be?"

"Oh lots and lots! There's this one colt that comes into Sugarcube Corner every single day and buys one chocolate cupcake. Every day! Only one! Can you believe that? And there's another -"

"Okay, you're done."

Scratch signed and made a face. If Pinkie didn't know who this pony was, who in the hay would? Pinkie was like a giant database of information that anypony could turn to and find things out about other ponies.

"Maybe you should just try to meet her at the store again! I know if I saw somepony somewhere doing something I'd try to find them there again. Like this one time when I was looking for Rainbow Dash.."

Vinyl Scratch nearly stopped breathing as she slowly closed her eyelids. She wasn't hearing the words Pinkie was saying because she was too busy swearing at herself for being such a dunce.

"Thanks Pinkie, I…"

Pinkie acted as if she didn't even register what Scratch was saying. She kept on with her story.

"So I was looking ALL OVER for Dashie but I couldn't find her. And that's when I remembered…"

"Pink- Ah, screw it. Hey, is that pony giving out cupcakes?"

Pinkie's attention shifted faster than a speeding pegasus and with a flash, she was gone. Scratch chuckled to herself and headed back home, all the while wondering how she could have missed the obvious answer.

*******

Vinyl Scratch stared up at the off white ceiling of the apartment she shared with Bon Bon. The nauseating couple had been gone when Scratch had gotten back, but it was surely only a matter of time before they returned. After all, Celestia-forbid that Lyra got any less than nine hours of rest. That mare could, and did, find anything to complain about. Scratch turned up the dial on her mp3 player and let the beats wash over her. There was something about getting lost in the beats of a great song that left Scratch feeling better about life. Hard guitars and angry, hurt lyrics rang out through her headphones and took her away from a world that allowed stupid ponies. She put her hooves behind her head and relaxed, closing her eyes, and saw the gorgeous grey pony from the music store. How in Equestria was she going to just happen to run into her again? She'd just have to try at the same time tomorrow.

Scratch was so immersed in her music, in this pony, that she didn't hear Lyra and Bon Bon come home. Lyra stood in the doorway of Scratch's room for a while, calling the spaced out unicorn. Even as Lyra approached, Bon Bon only steps behind her, Scratch stayed oblivious to her presence. That is, until, Lyra not-so-gently poked Scratch in her very-much-so ticklish ribs.

"EEP!"

Scratch flew into the air and immediately began swinging her hooves wildly about. Bon Bon and Lyra were practically crying they were laughing so hard. The couple watched as Scratch found herself tangled in the chord to her headphones, which in turn caused her to flail about more, which caused her to get caught in the blankets.

"You wanna throw hooves? I'll throw hooves you buck! Fight like a colt!"

Bon Bon and Lyra roared in laugher as Scratch finally freed herself from her cotton imprisonment.

Scratch flung her headphones off and oriented herself, finally focusing on what was going on. Rage burned inside her. She really wanted to tell Lyra what to do with that hoof. Instead she smiled at the two, doing her best to maintain her usually present cool. No use fighting over something silly, now was there? Still though, she couldn't force her voice to be anything other than deadpan.

"I should have known."

Lyra and Bon Bon were finally calming down. Bon Bon wiped a tear from her eye. Scratch plastered an extra wide grin on her face.

That's right. Laugh it up. You mother –

"I'm sorry Vinyl, I couldn't help myself. You looked so in the zone. I tried calling you."

"Oh, that's quite all right, Lyra. Better be careful, though, wouldn't want to get caught in the face with a flying hoof."

Lyra's smile wavered. She didn't seem to know whether or not there was a hint of threat in Scratch's overly sweet voice. Scratch saw the hesitation in her golden eyes and decided to play nice. It was what everypony wanted, after all.

"Anyway. Now that you two have embarrassed me, how was your dinner?"

"It was good. We went to Everfree Colthouse."

Scratch's face fell. On one hoof, she hated being the third pony to their disgusting couple but on the other hoof… no one had as good of food as Colthouse. Scratch decided she got the better end of the deal. When Scratch rejoined the conversation, Lyra and Bon Bon had taken seats directly across from her on the bed. There wasn't exactly room for three ponies on it, so it made it a little awkward in terms of proximity. Scratch scooted as far away from the two as she could, as nonchalantly as she could. Which was about as stealthy as hosting a lightswitch rave in the mayor's office. And considering the amount of pleading Scratch had to do to not get thrown in jail… it wasn't all that stealthy.

Maybe I should try it at NOT two in the morning next time.

"Vinyl, we're worried about you."

"Hmm?" Scratch knew Lyra was talking in her concerned voice, but she didn't really care as to what was being said. Even still, the DJ turned her nearly full attention on the two ponies across from her.

"You've just been acting really off lately. Especially today. You know you can talk to me about anything at all."

Bon Bon nodded earnestly behind Lyra. It was Lyra's tone that grated on Scratch's nerves. She just needed to be free from Lyra. For four years their friendship had been nothing but a situation for an opportunistic pony like Lyra to take advantage of. Lyra knew that right now, Scratch couldn't quite run out like she did earlier.

"I know I can."

"… Well?"

"Well what? I've had a long day. I'm sorry you're upset about it. I've got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow and I'm just planning stuff out."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just some business I have to take care of."

"You're not going to do anything dangerous are you?"

Scratch couldn't help herself but to roll her eyes.

"Yes, I'm going to jump off of the Princesses' castle, while high on acid and wearing a velvet picture of Celestia on my flank."

"Come on Vinyl. I'm serious."

"So am I."

"Aw come on Lyra, Vinyl is obviously okay. Let's just let her be. I'm beat anyway."

Lyra made a face at Bon Bon. She clearly wanted to play physcoltogist today. Scratch gave Bon Bon an appreciative nod which was acknowledged with a small smile. Scratch decided now was a good time to go in for the kill.

"Yeah, don't worry about me, Lyra. I'm good. Just a long day is all."

Lyra seemed unhappy but left the room without another word. Relishing in her victory, Scratch fixed her bed so that she could attempt to calm herself and rest. With the lights out, and music softly caressing her ear drums, Scratch stared into the black void that was currently her ceiling. She again shut her eyes, falling into the complex beats of the music. She was content in this moment. Anytime she could beat Lyra at her own game was a good day. Especially anytime Bon Bon aided her.

Scratch let the music consume her, and take her to the realm of sleep. It was all she could do to shut out those purple eyes before she drifted into a deep slumber.

Chapter Four

Vinyl Scratch was pacing in front of the record store. She would stop every few minutes or so to check her mane in the glass of the shop. She thought over and over, trying to remember if she had put on deodorant after her longer than necessary shower, using her best smelling shampoo and soaps. Scratch's stomach was in knots as she waited for the lovely classical music to stop pouring into the streets. Not that she wanted it to stop because of its classical nature. She had actually come to appreciate the music, at least when her favorite pony was playing it.

It had been three weeks since Scratch had laid eyes on that grey pony. After sneaking around the shop, she finally caught a glimpse of the pony's treble clef cutie mark and immediately ran to Pinkie Pie's home. Of course, talking to Pinkie to get a specific answer wasn't quite as easy as Scratch would have hoped. No offense to the ball of pink cotton, but Scratch just wanted to put a name to the face she couldn't get out of her head. Scratch smiled to herself, repeating the beautiful mare's name.

"Octavia Philharmonica."

The white unicorn swooned at the very name. It seemed to match perfectly with the mare she, for some reason, adored. Scratch looked up the see the colt behind the counter staring at her. Again. Like he always did.

"Now, I know that I'm hard to look away from, but give it a break, bub."

"Lady, when are you gonna quit coming around here and talking to yourself? You've been creeping ponies out for the last three weeks. And for Celestia's sake, quit grinning like that, you look like a crazy pony!"

Scratch had almost immediately stopped listening. The music had stopped. Her stomach lurched into her throat, doing its best impression of one of the tricks The Wonderbolts did. Scratch took a deep breath and marched into the record store. She knew three things at that moment: One, she couldn't hear a thing over her heart beating in her ears. Two, she needed to use the calmest, most suave and mature voice she had. Which wouldn't be easy for a pony that told flank jokes every sixteen seconds. And three, she was going to probably puke when this was all over.

Octavia was in the same space that she used every day. She couldn't say she was a big fan of playing any of her instruments in public, but it was her father's business and he did so enjoy her music. She gently put everything in its proper case when she heard a voice behind her. She'd never admit that she jumped, just a hair.

"Uh, hey." The voice shook with a bit of uncertainty.

Octavia turned around to see an ocean of electric blue mane staring at her. The unicorn's glasses gave her a bit of an intimidating look but her smile seemed genuine.

"Hello."

"Yeah, hey. I've seen you practicing her a lot. I was wondering if maybe you had some time to teach me about some of these instruments. I mean, you know…"

Scratch pointed to her cutie mark and Octavia smiled warmly.

"I would be delighted to."

"Wait, really? I mean... that's, yeah, that's cool. Why don't you gimme your address so I can stop by some time."

Scratch was doing her best to maintain her cool, which was not an easy feat at the current moment. She was half congratulating herself on how suave her address-getting technique was, and half freaking out because it was working. Octavia did as asked, writing her info on a piece of paper. It was all Vinyl could do to not rip the piece of paper out of Octavia's hooves in excitement. Slowly, and a bit shaky, a blue aura surrounded the paper and brought it close to the white unicorn. She stared at it for a moment too long and felt a wave of embarrassed shame flow over her. Vinyl looked up and locked eyes with Octavia. She coughed to turn her head away and found that her mouth was watering for some reason again.

"Perhaps Thursday will work out for you? I have quite the tight schedule, but I always enjoy conversing about and teaching music."

"Thursday's great!"

"Very well. I will see you Thursday Miss… what was your name again?"

"Oh! Right. Name's Vinyl Scratch, m'lady."

"Octavia Philharmonica. Charmed."

"Right on. I'll see ya Thursday, Octy!"

Vinyl tried to walk coolly out of the store, but her excited legs carried her in a much too brisk walk. Octavia stared after Scratch for a long moment, puzzled at Scratch's quick disappearance. After a thought, she grimaced at the floor.

"What did she just call me?"

**********

Scratch's heart was beating even louder in her ears, and it was all she could do to maintain her body from shaking with excitement. As soon as she got out of the store, the adrenaline in her body could not be contained anymore. She broke out into a full on gallop until she was well out of hearing of the store. She ducked in an alleyway and let out the joyous squeal she had been fighting to contain.

"Man, why do I feel like I just ran a marathon and won? This is AWESOME!"

Scratch couldn't explain the feelings that were flowing over her like a waterfall. Here was this pony who she barely knew. She had talked to all of one time. She was literally losing sleep over this pony. And yet she was crouched in an alleyway, barely able to keep herself from doing cartwheels. None of it made any sense. Scratch didn't really believe in love, especially love at first sight. She knew she wasn't in love with this pony. But there had to be something that Scratch was missing. Nopony had ever gotten her attention like Octavia did. Scratch swooned again.

"Aw man, that voice."

It was almost as if Celestia and Luna looked deep inside of the DJ and made the most perfect match for her. Scratch smiled wide; she was giddy as a school filly. She also decided that she should head home at some point, instead of pushing her luck in a weird alley way. Vinyl threw on her headphones and flipped her mp3 player to 'shuffle'. At first, she paid no mind to the songs that played instead focusing her thoughts on Octavia. Lavender eyes were practically burned into her conscience; it was all she could see. She wasn't so much listening to the music flowing into her ears as she was day dreaming about Octavia. The songs switched with Vinyl still away from her music, until a particular patch of lyrics rudely pulled her attention out of another cuddle-filled fantasy.

"You've got it, you've got it,

Some kind of magic,

Hypnotic, hypnotic,

You're leaving me breathless…"

Vinyl Scratch listened intently. She definitely knew how that felt. This song made her think about Octavia. At least, it made her think about Octavia in a somewhat different way. She wasn't sure entirely why, though. After all, there were other songs that she could probably listen to that would be closer to her heart… but that was the beauty of music. Any song could be interpreted in any way by anypony. Scratch smiled and promptly put her mp3 player on repeat. She was going to have a wonderful walk home, with those hypnotic lavender eyes in the front of her mind the whole way.

Chapter Five

Finally.

It was Thursday morning. Rather, it was Thursday afternoon but Vinyl Scratch had just barely managed to pry her eyes open around the crack of two. Normally, Lyra would be over to see Bon Bon, endlessly harassing her to get her lazy flank out of bed, but Bon Bon had to work bright and early, so no Lyra was to be seen.

Not that Scratch cared. Today was her day. Today, she wasn't going to have to put up with any of Lyra's crap, or Bon Bon's somewhat annoying pacifism. No, today, Scratch was going to hang out with Octavia.

She took a moment to soak this in, and really think about everything for a second. The very thought of Octavia sent a shiver up Scratch's spine, but in a good way. An anxious way. The part that Scratch didn't get was why. Why did Octavia, a pony she didn't really know at all, make her feel this way? She couldn't get a grasp on it. There was no rhyme or reason. It's not like she was new to the whole dating mares thing; that was old hat. There was something about Octavia, something about her presence that made Scratch feel the way she did. And what a feeling it was.

It was a feeling that was completely foreign to the DJ. She felt a welling of emotion ready to burst through her chest when she pictured the eyes of her beloved. She couldn't help but smile as she relived her scent and her mannerisms. It was a pure, raw joy that Scratch hadn't had the pleasure to feel in a very long time. But why Octavia? It didn't make any sense.

Maybe there's bigger things running this joint, that I can't explain.

Scratch laughed out loud at herself.

"What, like Celestia and Luna are sitting at their palace thinking," Scratch threw her voice a few octaves higher. "Oh my! Let's make Vinyl fall in love with some mare she doesn't know! Wouldn't that be hilarious?!"

Scratch chuckled until she realized just what she had said. Her ruby eyes quickly darted to her door, hoping that she was indeed home alone. Not that she was in love with Octavia. That would be stupid. She just had a cute flank. And a great body. And a sexy voice. And beautiful eyes…

"Okay! Time to get up."

Scratch threw herself out of bed and pretended that she didn't just have a conversation with herself about being in love with somepony she didn't know. After another shower that lasted longer than it needed to, and far more checks to make sure she smelled good, she left the house to find Octavia.

Scratch kept the paper Octavia had written on within hooves reach for the last three days. She convinced herself that she just didn't want to lose it and let the grey mare think she was standing her up. That it had absolutely nothing to do with the sentimental value of the paper that Octavia had touched, had written on.

It was a pretty short walk and soon Scratch was staring at Octavia's apartment building. She felt her stomach do a twist, threatening to spill out all of its contents by way of her mouth.

Stop being a scaredy pony, march right up to apartment five, and knock on that dang door!

Scratch drew a deep breath and promptly marched behind the building. Her nerves were getting the best of her. The white unicorn beat her head against the rough brick. There was no way she was going to be able to see Octavia. She just knew it. She was going to have to turn around and go home because she couldn't stop her emotions from getting the best of her. As if somepony had flipped a switch, Scratch furrowed her brow.

"Ain't no way I'm gonna let somepony get the best of me. Shut up, emotions. I don't know who invited you to the party, but it's time to am-scray!"

Scratch spun on her back hooves and marched up to apartment five, knocking three times. After what seemed to be an eternity, a very tired looking Ocativa opened the door. Scratch flipped to cool mode.

"Hey. What's shakin'?"

"Oh my. I am terribly sorry, Vinyl. I totally forgot about our music date today! Please forgive me, something has come up that requires my immediate attention."

"Oh, uh, hey. Don't worry about it. It's all gravy."

"I am so sorry. I did not mean to stand you up, but… I am sorry Vinyl."

Scratch smiled weakly. "Ah, don't sweat it. You go take care of whatever it is that you have to take care of."

Scratch thought she heard another pony sniffle from behind the door. She raised an eyebrow while Octavia's glance into her house was a confirmation that somepony else was there.

"Do excuse me, Vinyl. Another time, perhaps."

"Yeah, sure. See ya."

Octavia shut the door quietly, but she could have very well slammed it on Scratch's head. Dejected, the DJ turned around and headed for home. Not that she wanted to be there either. She was sure that Lyra was bound to pop up at some point, meaning that she would either get lectured or get in a fight.

Scratch did her best to care. She felt like somepony had taken everything she ever wanted and slammed it in her face. At the same time, though, she did her best to hide her pain from herself. She couldn't stop the tiny voice in the back of her head from scolding her, though.

Really? Gonna get upset 'cause somepony stood you up? Chin up, bucko. This ain't the Vinyl that I know. Its only one day, you've got time. It's not like she's gonna do this over and over again. Just one day.

Scratch did her best to keep up appearances as she walked, fighting the muscles in her face from forming a noticeable grimace. To an outsider, she would seem apathetic at best. But inside, she couldn't help but feel sad. And not just the kind of sad where you want some pie but it's gone, Scratch noted silently. It was the kind of soul-crushing, heart-breaking, tear forming, energy sucking sad that didn't make any sense. It demotivated Scratch to the point where she just wanted to sit and stare into space. She tried to not let the negative energy consume her, but she failed miserably. It seemed there was only one thing she could do.

*******

It had been two full weeks and Scratch had been stood up three times total by Octavia. Meaning that there were no less than three mornings when she woke up feeling the wrath of the rum gods. Scratch squinted and took in her surroundings.

At least I made it to bed last night. This morning. This week. Ow. My face... head.

Vinyl was never one of the ponies that suffered from the curse of the hangover. She was always the one of the group that was up first after a tough night of partying and causing a ruckus. The last few weeks had been hell though. Vinyl made the conscious decision to see Octavia at the shop after being stood up, eager to get any sort of time with the musician. It soon became a regular sight to see the two sitting next to each other, laughing carelessly and playing music. The two seemed to be quickly becoming the best of friends. It was effortless in Vinyl's mind. It was as if her and Octavia were made to be in one another's life somehow.

Which is why it hurt Vinyl so much when Octavia stood her up. It wasn't that there wasn't always a good reason to do so. One night she had a concert. Another she had to log hours of practicing with her father. It just seemed too convenient. Perhaps the Octavia at the shop only put on a face and really didn't want to see Vinyl at all. Maybe she was just using Vinyl to... walk her home? And hang out with her all day? Maybe she just really enjoyed the attention. Vinyl pretended there was something in her eye causing the horrible stinging sensation as she pulled the covers over her head and curled into a ball.

"I don't know why I even bothered."

Scratch didn't even have the energy to open her eyes. She didn't care enough to. She was getting sucked into a lonely feeling of losing Octavia when she never even had her.

You. Cannot. Give. Up.

"Oh, shut the hell up."

Vinyl sighed and decided that she should try to get up and do... something. Probably rum. She threw the covers off of her head but found her body lacking the effort to try and move. And then, as if the princesses were continuing their chess match with Scratch's life, a giant cloud of pink over took the room.

"HI SCRATCHIE!"

"Ah!"

Scratch didn't have to be totally aware of her surroundings to know that Pinkie Pie had just entered the room. Despite the dark cave that Scratch slept in, the light pouring in from the open door was enough to make Scratch wince when she opened her eyes. That, and the vibrant shade of happy.

"Hi Pinkie." Scratch croaked.

"Scratchie! I have a super amazing totally awesome thing happening and you absolutely have to be there!"

"Shhhh. Make quiet happen."

"I'm having a Nightmare Night party this weekend and you have to come or I'll be the saddest pony of all the sad ponies ever to be sad! And that just wouldn't make a good party because if one pony is sad then everypony else would be all 'hey what's wrong' and then EVERYONE would be sad and that would be bad!"

"Pinkie, how do you talk and not breathe? That can't be normal. I feel like somepony should be observing you for science."

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, Twilight's observed me plenty with her hooky-uppies and machiney-weenies!"

Scratch opened her mouth to ask questions but thought better of it. Sometimes, it was just better to not ask.

"Be at Sweet Apple Acres at eight Saturday night!"

"Sweet Apple…"

Before Scratch could ask why it was at the farm Pinkie was gone. She shook her head and smiled to herself. A party was definitely a good idea, and the ponies in Ponyville were a little less than sane, so it was bound to be an awesome time. Well, that, and she could drink herself stupid to forget about a certain somepony. Scratch stopped mid-thought. She was so still, the movement of her chest when she drew breath was barely noticeable. Her eyes flickered around the room as her thoughts calmed from the whirlwind of excitement to focus on one thing: Octavia.

"That's it!"

Without another thought to her appearance or plan, Scratch sprinted out of bed and towards Octavia's apartment.

********

Vinyl Scratch paced back and forth in the barn, keeping care to stick near the door. She was having a great time with everypony, but there was only one pony she wanted to see. Scratch smiled knowing that Octavia was going to show up for sure. It didn't take much pleading but Octavia wasn't sure of going to a party where she didn't know anypony. Scratch used her smoothest voice and her, apparently powerful, friendship card to lure Octavia into coming. After she was done with her music for the night, that is.

"Man, I have never seen you so excited to get your mare on."

"Shut it, Rainbow. This one is special. So you better watch it, punk."

"Who you callin' a punk? I will end you!"

Scratch and Rainbow Dash threw their hooves in the air, smiling the whole while. Their play fight didn't last long as Vinyl found herself plastered to the door at every sound. She was well aware that everypony was watching her pace tirelessly in front of the door, but she just didn't care. When she saw a familiar shadow shyly heading towards the door it was all she could do to prevent herself from running out, ignoring the heckling calls of her friends ringing out in the distance. Octavia smiled warmly at Scratch when she was approached, letting her cooler persona take over.

"Hey. Didja find the place okay?"

"Oh, yes I did. Thank you."

"Great, great. How was practice?"

"It was very good. How is your night so far? Any crazy shenanigans as I know you are prone to doing?"

"Not yet, wouldn't let you miss any of my tricks! C'mon, let's go inside. Everypony is eager to meet you."

"Oh they are, are they?"

Scratch was glad that it was so dark outside the barn, because her face was a vibrant shade of red. She laughed and itched the back of her head nervously.

"Heh. Yeah. Well. You know. They want to meet the newbie."

Octavia nodded as a slow smile spread on her face. The two mares walked very slowly, enjoying the cool autumn night. Scratch was positively beaming while introducing Octavia to all of her Ponyville friends. A few of them she had to shoot looks to while Octavia wasn't paying attention for fear of saying something she would regret. The two mares settled into some seats and talked. And they talked until four AM when everypony was clearing out. Finally Applejack had to interrupt.

"Ah hate ta be a party pooper, but we're gonna head on ta bed and we need ta close up the barn."

"What? Oh. Yeah. Sorry AJ. Hey, great party. Tell Pinkie that I'm more than a little glad she invited me."

Apple Jack smiled and stole a glance at Octavia.

"Ah'll make sure ta let her know."

Octavia stretched and got up from her chair. Scratch watched her for a moment and followed suit, cautiously keeping her body close to Octavia's. Either she didn't care, or she didn't notice.

"I do not know the last time I had such a good time at a party."

The two walked into the significantly chillier autumn air. Scratch's breath caught.

"R-really? I mean, yeah, I'm glad you had a good time. Everypony seemed to like you."

"You think so? I thought I saw some of them giving me some weird looks."

Scratch's face flushed and she wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Octavia steal a glance and smile. The two slowed their pace as they neared the end of the road.

"Well, I suppose this is the part where I let you go home and sleep, eh Octy?"

"Why do you insist on calling me that?"

"Dunno. Fits you. I could call you Tavia. Or Tavi. Oooh, I like Tavi too."

"I prefer Octavia."

"Nah."

Despite the minor irritancy welling within her, the corners of Octavia's mouth pulled upwards. There was something about the clueless, confident mare that just made her smile, regardless of how obnoxious she was being.

"Well then, I shall have to call you… Valencia."

"Woah, woah. Hey, slow your roll there. That's countering a tap on the shoulder with a right hoof. Pick again."

"Hmm... Vina. It sounds just like Vinyl. I am merely doing what you did when you destroyed the sanctity of my name."

Vinyl ginned at Octavia. They sat silent for a moment as Scratch thought about her new nickname. Clearly, Octavia thought this would stop her from calling her Octy.

"Alright, Treble Clef. You can call me Vina. ONLY in private though. Nopony else needs to know about that. Octy."

Octavia cringed. Her thought process changed and she cocked her head to the side. Scratch's face contorted into one of confusion.

"What's up, butter cup?"

"First of all, you call me so many different things, I hardly find it fair that I may only relinquish the knowledge of your new name in private. And second…"

Octavia moved closer to Scratch, keeping her eyes deadlocked on the unicorn's face. Scratch's heart was barely beating within her chest. Her mind raced as Octavia got closer to her. She closed her eyes. Could she really be moving in for the kill? She felt Octavia's hoof graze her face and touch the brim of her glasses. Her eyes snapped open when she realized what Octavia was doing. Immediately she stepped back, causing Octavia to pout.

"Why ever not? What are you trying to hide?"

"Not hidin' anything Octy. Just like the glasses. Don't wanna chance losing them."

Octavia smiled as she noticed Scratch's head looking anywhere but her pouting face. This was something she would store for further exploitation. Scratch noticed that Octavia was still in a very close proximity to her. She couldn't help the goofy grin that plastered itself on her face.

"Well then, I must be heading off now. Perhaps we can get together soon? Perhaps tomorrow? I really had fun with you tonight."

Scratch beamed. "That'd be awesome. Let's do it. Meet you at the shop?"

"Of course. Good night… Vina."

Octavia turned on her hooves and began her short walk home. Scratch stared after her for a long moment.

"Good night…"

Scratch stayed glued to her spot for what seemed like forever. In the distance, she thought she saw Octavia look back. Her smile grew tenfold, barely keeping from leaping off of her face.

Told you not to give up.

Scratch smiled to herself and skipped home, feeling on top of the world. Nothing could bring her down.

Chapter Six

"Oh there you are! Bon Bon and I were about to make dinner. Are you hungry?"

Vinyl Scratch was stumbling through her house, still exhausted. She didn't get back home before the vibrant moon of Luna descended below the horizon, and gave way to the burning orb that was Celestia's sun. Not that that particularly bothered the mare. In fact, she rather enjoyed watching the spectacle. More so than ever before in her nocturnal life, Scratch appreciated the purple and red colors dancing with the morning sun. The way they entwined with each other was beautiful and symbolic. The deep, almost crimson, red cautiously but carelessly meshing into a brilliant and breathtaking violet, made Vinyl take even more time in getting home so as to absorb as much of the sight as possible. It seemed so... effortless. Scratch smiled, lost in thoughts of Octavia. Then she realized Lyra was in her house and talking in her direction. Scratch practically growled.

Be nice. She was your best friend for years…

"Whassat?" Scratch slurred. She hadn't found her voice just yet.

"Dinner. Are you hungry?" Lyra sounded irritated. Scratch grinned.

"Er, sure. Bizzie, are you cooking?"

Bon Bon poked her head out of the fridge with a triumphant smile.

"Sure am!"

"So, how was your night? You usually don't look this happy to be awake."

"What? Oh. Yeah. I had a great night."

Scratch's voice trailed off as she let Octavia's voice play through her head for what had to be the thousandth time. She could practically smell whatever perfume Octy was wearing. Scratch swooned.

"I really had fun with you tonight…"

"Equestria to Vinyl… come in, Vinyl. What is going on in that head of yours?"

"Oh, uh. I was just remembering some stuff from the party. It was a pretty sweet crowd."

"Oh? Did a certain unicorn meet a pony she fancies?"

"More like, took a mare that I've BEEN fancy… ing."

Scratch saw Lyra's face tighten for a millisecond before she regained her composure.

"Oh really. Do tell."

Scratch shrugged. "Just somepony I met at the record store a few weeks ago. She clearly had it goin' on for me so I decided to give her a taste of the DJ."

"How come you didn't tell me sooner?" Lyra's voice was hard.

"Wait, what?"

"Why have you been hiding this from me?"

"Why do you assume I'm hiding something from you?"

"You JUST said that you took somepony you've been seeing. Well? How long? Who is she? What's she like? Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were supposed to be best friends."

"'Cause you act like this anytime there's another mare in my life, is why I didn't tell you." Scratch growled. She couldn't control herself anymore. She was sick of Lyra being so controlling.

Lyra's eyes widened, as did Bon Bon's. Scratch figured she should have felt bad about it, but it was the honest truth. Anytime anypony else came into her life, Lyra acted like somepony kicked Celestia in the face. Bon Bon looked scared about what was to come as a deathly silence filled the room. Scratch could see Lyra's face turning red; out of embarrassment or rage, she didn't know. If she was honest with herself, she didn't care either. She couldn't help but smile, as she did in all tense situations. It's not that she found anger funny, it's just how she reacted because she just wasn't big on petty drama. She didn't see the point in fighting with anypony when there could be partying to be done. However, this was indeed somewhat humorous to her. Making Lyra angry was only a small victory for Vinyl, but a victory nonetheless.

"What do you mean I 'act like this'? I haven't done anything except ask why I haven't heard about this new mare."

Vinyl sighed. "Yeah, you're right. You're acting fine. I'm acting a foal. Sorry I'm the worst pony ever."

"I appreciate when my BEST FRIEND tells me things that are going on in her life." Lyra was barely moving her lips when she talked. Scratch laughed dryly. This was weirder than the time she bet Pinkie couldn't eat all the corn cakes she could find. (She did).

"Like I said, sorry about being the worst friend ever. I gotta go. Why don't you go eat dinner mint bizkit, I got stuff to do."

"Oh no, do NOT turn your back on me Vinyl Scratch. We are NOT done talking about this. How dare you slander me and then try to run away!"

Scratch whipped around to come face to face with Lyra, who seemed fully prepared to follow her out the door. Scratch knew that the grin on her face was arrogant but she couldn't help it. Seeing Lyra's golden eyes smoldering with anger made her content. Though, that could have very well been the adrenaline pulsing through her own angry body. Even so, she really didn't want to have this conversation right now. She didn't want to have this conversation ever, if she was honest. Instead of dealing with a livid Lyra, she decided to get the first, and last, word in. Her voice was low and almost dangerous. Vinyl was, for once, in control of the situation, and every muscle in Lyra's body screamed that she hated it.

"What do you want me to say, Lyra? That everything's going to be perfect and awesome? Hey, fun fact, it's not. Never will be. Not anymore. You ruined that. And sorry if that's something you regret. But this?"

Scratch moved her hoof back and forth between the two of them, indicating their fight.

"This crap, I don't have time for. Enjoy your dinner. I'll talk to you when you're ready to chill a bit. I'm out."

******

"Vinyl? What are you doing here?"

Octavia's voice was laced with concern. Truth be told, Scratch was enjoying every second of it. But she also just needed somepony to distract her. She just so happened to know of one mare that could make the end of the world seem not so bad.

"Eh, I needed to get out of the house."

"Hmm. Come in, come in."

Scratch smiled to herself as she followed Octavia into her house. She couldn't help as her eyes drifted to the nearly perfect flank in front of her. Octavia turned around rather quickly to allow her guest to enter the room, and despite Vinyl being thankful for her ever-present shades, her face still heated up like a lamp. Scratch took in her surroundings. She was surprised to see that Octavia's living room was quite cluttered. Papers lay strewn across a small table. There was a blanket haphazardly folded on the plain brown love seat. More papers yet were scattered around a music stand that was tucked in the farthest corner of the living room. Scratch noted that her instruments, though, were neatly placed on each of their respective stands.

And then Scratch turned around and saw a beautiful piece of equipment.

"Ah, I see that you have found my stereo."

Scratch was practically drooling. Octavia moved towards her stereo, brushing Scratch as she walked by. Scratch's heart nearly stopped as she immediately forgot what she was looking at. It took her a moment to remember what she was doing.

"I got it a few years ago as a gift. I do not use it a whole lot anymore, but it does produce quite the amazing sound. Also, my neighbors were getting angry at me. For some reason, they do not appreciate loud music."

Scratch grinned. "Yeah, I dig that Octy. Say, whatdya say we turn this bad boy on and see what's playin'? Maybe give the neighbors something to complain about."

"I do not know about that, Vinyl. I do not need any trouble."

Scratch stole a look at Octavia, who was focusing on her stereo. She slowly approached the stereo, placing herself within a very close proximity of her host. She could practically feel the heat from Octavia's body as she extended a white hoof and hit the power button on the music box. Octavia furrowed her brow, but didn't stop Scratch from turning the stereo on.

"I'm not gonna get an ear full of Back am I?"

"What? Who?"

"Back. You know. That classical dude."

Octavia looked at Scratch like she was insane.

"Oh! You mean BACH."

"Like, a chicken bawk?"

Octavia smiled and shook her head.

"No, you will not get Bach when you turn on my stereo. I DO like more than just classical music, you know. Do you like only… whatever it is that you play? Dunkboots is it?"

Vinyl laughed hysterically. Tears poured from her eyes as she held her sides in a manic laughing pain.

"I can only assume you mean dubstep and oh my Celestia am I never calling it anything else ever again."

Vinyl took a few more moments to catch her breath and compose herself before flipping to the cds. First, she heard Jason Mareaz. Scratch was neutral towards him so she skipped to the second cd. John Neigher. Though Scratch didn't hate his music, she hated him and therefore trucked forward. Third was Jack Johnstallion. Scratch had heard of him before but wasn't in the mood to test him out at that moment. She skipped to the fourth cd and stole a glance at Octavia. Scratch jumped when she saw that Octavia's eyes were on her.

"What?"

"I am just seeing your reaction. You look contemplative."

"Just wondering where the jams are, Octy. There's gotta be something GOOD here."

Then Scratch stopped. The fourth cd had started playing. She knew that beat. But from where? Then, it dawned on her and she started laughing. A lot. Scratch was on her back crying she was laughing so hard. Again.

"I was anticipating that."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA. PARTY IN EQUESTRIA? MARELY CYRUS? AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You've gotta be kidding me!"

Scratch was holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard that it hurt. After the first chorus, she finally started to calm down and wipe the tears from her eyes. After two hysterical laughing fits, Vinyl was sure she was going to end up with eight pack abs. Her sides burned as badly as the time she overdosed on cupcakes and challenged Rainbow Dash to a five mile race. Dash did half in ten seconds flat. Vinyl felt on her face in ten seconds flat. Turns out that sugar isn't an active ingredient in races.

Octavia, surprisingly, didn't look mad. In fact, the corner of her mouth was pulled up into a grin. Scratch pushed herself into a sitting position, just feet away from Octavia.

"A lot of people say… that… when I tell them I do so enjoy Marely Cyrus' music."

"Aw, c'mon Octy. I'm not making fun of you. Okay, yes I am. But I also just hate her. A lot. And it baffles me. How in Equestria could anypony like her? Especially a respectably pony like you?"

Both Octavia's and Scratch's face filled with a light blush. Octavia shrugged.

"I am not ashamed of the music I choose to listen to. I am quite proud of all the music in my life. It is catchy and I enjoy it. I do not believe in "guilty pleasures". You do not have to partake in it… even though I know you want to put your hooves up. Because they are playing your song. Have to let those butterflies fly away. I see you nodding your head like yes, moving your hips like yes. Hey, it is a party in Equestria."

Scratch's face contorted into a playful, tight-lipped glare. Octavia beamed at Scratch.

"I understand. Your tummy is probably turning because you are feeling so homesick. This is too much pressure, and I am sure you are nervous."

Vinyl's eye twitched beneath her purple shades.

"Check and mate, Miss Vina."

"ARGH! That song is going to be stuck in my head until the end of TIME. Or tomorrow. Whichever comes first. This sucks!"

"I could grow to enjoy this."

Scratch scowled and looked at the floor.

"Whatever Octy. At least I don't own… this. If you can call it music."

"Don't make me sing again."

Scratch looked at Octavia for a second.

"Wait, did you just use a contraction?"

"I most certainly did not!"

Scratch smiled wide. She was back on the offensive.

"Did too. You said don't. You don't say 'don't'. You say 'do not.' You just contracted yourself!"

Octavia turned her head away from Scratch with a loud 'humph', while purposely hitting Scratch in the face with her long mane. Scratch caught scent of her shampoo and forgot what she was doing. After a short moment, Octavia turned back towards Scratch and smiled.

"So why were you not at the shop today? I must say I was a little disappointed when you did not show up. Leaving a poor, defenseless mare all to herself. Why, I thought you had better manners than that. Did something happen today?"

It was all Scratch could do to pull herself out of those beautiful, concerned eyes and focus on answering her questions.

"Well, number A, I will not confirm nor deny that I got up roughly two hours ago. And letter two, I got in a fight with a friend of mine today."

"I am sorry to hear that. What about?"

Scratch scratched the back of her head, the way she always did when she was nervous and needed time to collect her words.

"Well, about you."

"About me?"

Vinyl Scratch sighed. There was one thing she couldn't really put off any longer. One sort of important aspect of her life that she hadn't revealed to Octavia yet.

"Well, it's kind of a long story but I suppose you can hear it… But there's some variables that I need to go through with you. And I guess the best way to make the story make sense is to come right out and say them."

"Variables? I don't understand."

Scratch smiled slightly.

"Okay. Three variables. You just said don't again, firstly."

Octavia glared at Scratch for a moment but didn't say a word. Scratch drew a deep breath.

Here goes…

"Octy… uh, Octavia… I'm gay… and I'm living with my ex-fillyfriend's fillyfriend."

Chapter Seven

The silence was deafening. That is, if you could call it silence. Vinyl Scratch's heartbeat seemed to be obliterating itself in her ear cavity. The moment seemed to last longer than any other moment in Scratch's life. She felt that the nervous heat emanating from the blush on her face could power a small city.

Scratch hadn't looked Octavia in the eye for some time now. She had no idea what her reaction was. Sure, most ponies in Equestria were tolerant and loving, but not all were. If Scratch saw Octavia's face full of hate it would destroy her. Reluctantly, she looked up into those perfect lavender eyes. To her relief, Octavia didn't seem angry. She looked like she hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary, and just wanted Vinyl to continue with her story.

"Okay? Then what?"

Scratch cocked an unsure eyebrow. "You're not mad at me? You don't want to throw me out of a fiery pit into a more better fire-ier pit? Full of manticores to destroy me and bunny rabbits that will cute me to my demise?"

Octavia laughed at Vinyl's preposterous ideas.

"What does it matter to me who you like? It doesn't affect me one way or another. This ex-filly friend thing, though, I am quite curious about. Who is this ex of yours?"

Scratch's heart soared high into the sky. So high, in fact, it was probably looking down on the Wonderbolts. She had goofy grin to match her light heart, as well. She felt free, as if she could bare her soul to Octavia and Octy wouldn't bat an eye. After a long moment contemplating their interesting relationship, she shrugged.

"Before I start, I'm going to need a glass of rum and an explanation from you."

Octavia cocked her head to the side, her face curious. "Explanation of what?"

"Why do you get so defensive about talking proper? Why do you do it at all?"

"I am a lady and a lady is proper." Octavia shoved her nose into the air and huffed in jest.

"Well, I am a lady and that is not good enough." Scratch snorted, amused.

"I would hardly call you a lady, Vinyl."

"What?! I am the ladiest of ladies. I'm such a lady, the princess takes proper lady classes from me!"

Octavia couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped from her mouth. "I'm certain I've met rocks more proper than you."

"I've met some pretty fancy rocks, Octy! Some of them speak that Frenchy language thing! Now THAT is fancy! You know what's not fancy? Carrying a giant monster on your back that you use to punish those around you with your so called musi-"

Scratch was cut off by a speeding pillow colliding with her muzzle and knocking her to her back. She looked up to see Octavia standing over her, smiling, with another pillow in range.

"This is a fight you don't want to start."

"You said don't agai-"

Octavia laughed as she silenced Scratch with another pillow. Octavia looked down at her fallen enemy, beaming and proud. The white unicorn entertained the idea of a surprise pillow attack, but just enjoyed Octavia being so close to her. And so dominant. Scratch shook her head clear of thoughts that she really didn't need to be having.

"I will neither confirm nor deny that I speak properly when I am in the company of those I don't know. I will also neither confirm nor deny that I am comfortable enough around you to be a little less… proper. Though, perhaps it is you corrupting a poor and innocent pony like myself."

Scratch roared with laughter. "Yeah, you're so poor and innocent that you picked a fight with the biggest badass in all of Equestria."

"… Says the pony lying on her back."

"BOOM!"

Before Octavia could question Scratch's random outburst, she was pegged square in the face with a pillow. And then another. And another. The sudden onslaught caused Octavia to melodramatically fall to the ground and crawl behind the arm of her couch, out of Scratch's reach. Both mares were giggling with the excitement and joy of school fillies. Octavia poked her head out into the clearing but quickly retracted when a pillow came shooting past.

"Have you had enough, oh master of the stringed monster?"

"I will never cease fire! It is you that will fall to the ground in agony!" Octavia shouted, still pinned against the side of the couch.

"Oh, we'll see about that. This DJ is about to pwn three! Uh… wait. Hold on. That was going to sound a lot cooler."

Scratch tip-hooved towards the side of the couch, trying to throw her voice behind her so Octavia wouldn't get suspicious. She got inches away when a grey blur came jumping from behind the arm of the couch and grabbed her. The two somersaulted backwards with Octavia ultimately landing on top of Scratch, holding her forelegs together tightly. Scratch squirmed but Octavia's grip was vice-like and refused to budge. Finally, Scratch decided to just enjoy the moment and try to make the contact between the two last. She was more than a little excited that Octavia was sitting on top of her, even if they were at pillow war.

"You're stronger than I gave you credit for, Octy."

"Yes, well, I don't mean to brag but my lifestyle has worked my muscles quite nicely."

Oh, I can work those muscles… I mean what.

Scratch's face flushed a little having caught herself before actually saying anything. In Scratch's life, there had been more than once when she had said something out loud when she didn't want to. Like the time she told Chad Kroger that if he ever started a band, it would be the worst band in the history of existence, record far too many albums that all sound like the same terrible song, and probably bring everypony together in their hatred of the band. Unfortunately, he did.

"Do you admit defeat, oh ruler of the the noisy records?"

Scratch snapped out of her guilt-filled reverie.

"Never! You're monstrous ways will never cause me harm!"

"Oh really?"

Octavia's eyebrow cocked, accepting the challenge. Vinyl became uneasy with the look on Octavia's face.

"What... uh, what are you... uh... AHH!"

Octavia attacked Vinyl with an onslaught of tickles. An electric blue mane squirmed wildly on the floor, fighting hard to get away from her assailant. Octavia had the upper hand in leverage, which in turn gave her a strength advantage. Vinyl started to make her escape but Octavia grabbed her by the hoof and pulled her back. Vinyl's sides were hurting from laughing so hard and reluctantly she had to tap out. Octavia beamed down at the scowling Vinyl.

"This is stupid."

"You tapped out."

"Still stupid."

"You love it."

"I fail to see how that has anything to do with anything."

Octavia gently sat herself down on the couch and stared into Vinyl's eyes. Vinyl, still riding high from her 'fight' with Octavia, lost her train of thought. Which wasn't all there to begin with.

"Alright now. No getting out of this one. Who's this ex of yours?"

Vinyl grinned. "Alright Octy. But first, I'm gonna need that rum."

******

"I met her through Rainbow Dash, who you met at the party. She was the blue pegasus that was next to AJ all night, you know, the one that owned the barn? Anyway, years ago Dash and I were best friends. We did everything together all the time. Well, Dash was pretty good friends with Lyra for some reason I still don't understand, and through the magic of friendship…"

Scratch looked away from Octavia and seemed to be staring intently at something. She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

"What are you doing, Vinyl?"

"Just making sure everypony reading sees what I did there."

"Sees what? Who? Reading? No one is reading." Octavia continued to look confused as Scratch merely continued her story, acting like there was no random interruption.

"Anyway, through Dash I met Lyra. And we became good friends really fast. And, to younger me, Lyra was gorgeous. She was kind and if I had a crappy day she was there for me. We were silly and had lots of fun together. Of course, she always seemed to be having some sort of fight with somepony, like everypony was out to get her. But I was young and stupid and I didn't really see that. I never stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't the innocent party in all these fights she was having. I just saw what she told me. I was totally infatuated with her. She had amazing eyes, and she was smart and funny, and had a nice body and just… she was awesome. So, I fell in love with her.

I never thought I had a chance. She liked colts. Plus, she was so oblivious to my feelings… it killed me to see colt after colt leave her for heartache. All I knew was that I loved her and I wanted to be there for her, no matter how much it hurt me. Well, eventually, she figured it out. And she fell in love with me too. It all happened really suddenly, but who am I to question that? Maybe she just woke up in the morning and saw how awesome I am."

Octavia rolled her eyes. "But I thought you said she liked colts?"

"Yeah, she did. But I think that someponies are just the type that do whatever they feel like. Like, I don't really buy into roles, you know? I feel like emotions are way too heavy to let a pony stay one way or the other for life. No one is 100 percent anything."

My Celestia that was deep. Dang I'm good.

Octavia smiled. "So you could be with a colt someday?"

Scratch scrunched up her face in mock disgust. "Yeah, in theory, it could happen. You never know."

Octavia's eyes bore into Scratch's. The gray mare grinned hard as she waved Scratch on to continue her story. Scratch needed a moment to recover from the trance those lavender gems put her in.

"Yeah, uh… anyway. Lyra and I dated for like, I don't know, a year and a half? It was all pretty good… for the first year or so. Then she started to change. She became this controlling, ego maniacal, self-righteous, narcissistic know-it-all. Anything I did was either wrong or proved I was cheating on her. I gave Rarity a present on her birthday and she was convinced I wanted to sleep with her. Wouldn't let it go. Never really did, either. To this day whenever I mention Rarity, Lyra's makes that stupid face of hers when she doesn't like somepony that I do. Though, she thinks that Rarity was leading me on and I was infatuated with her and, honestly, I don't know. Rarity was my friend, you know? Sure, she's pretty but we were just friends. Not that that mattered to her. There was a point where she would talk and I just wouldn't listen.

We fought a lot. We stopped being intimate. We even stopped sleeping in the same bed for the last month or so. It was ridiculous. But I still loved her, somehow. I didn't see any of this happening. Sure, I was getting frustrated with her being so… HER. But I didn't let it stop me from loving her as hard as I could. But then… then, finally, two weeks after my birthday, just shy of us being together for a year and a half, she broke up with me. I was devastated. I was depressed. I had no life left in me. I thought, like a foal, we would make it through. That we were just having a rough patch. But here she was just waiting to do it after my birthday. Not that she's not good at screwing up special occasions in the first place. She's great at it. Here's the kicker though. Two months later, she got together with… somepony. Celestia, I don't even remember his name. Banana something or another I think. Like, he handled bananas every day of his life. That was his talent. Handling bananas. But she swore up and down he was the one for her. Oh, did I mention that she didn't move out? Not until TWO YEARS after we broke up. So she's with some raging douche and living with me. Bringing him home. Asking me if I plan on going out for the rest of the weekend so she can do whatever with this colt. "

Something shifted in Octavia's eyes. Scratch continued her story, getting angrier every second she spoke about Lyra. There was a satisfied feeling in the pit of her chest, though, when she saw the anger flowing into her crush's face. The corner of her mouth lifted ever so slightly.

SOMEpony is getting defensive of you! Don't giggle! Just… stay calm, stay cool. You're the coolest unicorn in the land. Don't act a foal.

"Then she moved home because her parents needed help. Something was going on that I neither know or care about. She still kept me close to her. Close enough to watch her go through colt after colt after occasional mare. She kept me far enough away so that I knew I never had a chance again. I don't really remember anything from those two years. Every day blended into the next. They're as seamless as my music transitions. I was pretty much a living dead mare. It was terrible. Here I was, in love with somepony that could give a hoot about me and doing everything I could to make her happy. She told me what to do, when to do it, how to do it. She even decided when and where I would DJ. She was in control of my JOB.

Then… she met Bon Bon. They hit it off but there was one problem. Well, there were a lot of problems. But to sum it up, Lyra didn't know if she really wanted Bon Bon because, get this, Bon Bon was too nice. Yeah. No sense make, right? One of her problems was that Bon Bon still lived with her parents. Which, so did Lyra, but that was different because Lyra doesn't do anything wrong. No, it was different for Bon. It was one of the reasons Lyra didn't know if she could be with her. Besides her being nice, that is.

I liked Bon Bon. I thought she was nice. I wanted to see her be happy, but I also wanted to tell her to run like hell. But I didn't. Lyra still had my leash nice and tight, so I wouldn't have felt right ruining it for her. Lyra knew I had an empty bedroom. And she knew that I would bend over backwards for her, because I always did. So… that's how I ended up living with Bon Bon. To save Lyra's relationship. And the reason I'm here? Is because I didn't tell Lyra that I found this amaz-"

Scratch's heart skipped a beat as she realized what exactly she almost told Octavia.

Evasive comment number 76, go!

"Uh, that I had a new friend that I was getting to know really well. She acted like she always did, which is like a jealous foal, and I got sick of it and left. And I'm sure I'll get a talking to when I get back because, well, I can't do anything for myself when she's around, but whatever. I'm just sick of it. I feel like I need to break free, and I feel like that needs to happen soon. But there's still a part of me that wants to try to keep her as a friend. Even though she's proven less than great."

Octavia looked utterly livid. Her eyes were slimmed and cold, her nostrils slightly flared. Scratch noted how cute she looked when she was angry.

"Can I meet her?"

"Huh buh guh wha?"

Octavia did her best to not grin. "I want to put a face to the monster mare. Besides, she seems like she needs to get taken down a notch or two and we all know who is the best at taming monsters."

"You want to meet Lyra." Scratch wasn't asking as much as she was trying to make her brain catch up to what was going on.

"Yes."

"When?"

"Let's go now."

"But it's late. She won't be there."

"You just said you'd get a 'talking to' when you got home."

"Well, I was taking liberties with time. She'll be in bed sleeping."

"Then I'll stay there until she comes around."

"What if she flies into a fit of jealous rage?"

"Then I'll give her something to be jealous about."

Octavia got up before Scratch could counter and grabbed her coat. She walked towards the door and opened it, turning to stare at Scratch who was half mortified and have excited about how Octy would make Lyra jealous.

"Are you coming?"

"Uh… wait. You can't start a fight with her. I know that she sounds… well, like a pretty unpleasant pony… and she is. But I don't really want to rock the boat. Especially when I'm living with Bon-deuced. So I'll take you to meet her if you promise to play nice."

The smirk that played on Octavia's face could only be described as predatory. Her eyes were still wild with anger as she slowly trotted up to Scratch.

"Vina, I can't promise you anything, because I do not make promises that I cannot keep. I will be the most proper lady in the room… until she starts something."

"She won't. She's too fake for that. She'll put on her best face until the second you close the door."

Octavia looked dangerous. Scratch noted that perhaps she shouldn't get Octy mad on purpose in the future. "Then we shan't have a problem, shall we dear Vinyl? Please. Lead the way."

"You're scary when you're angry." Vinyl muttered as she slowly trotted out the door. Octavia chuckled light-heartedly.

"I'm not angry. I'm just interested to meet a mare who has so little value for another pony."

As much as Scratch didn't want a fight, she was overjoyed that Octavia was ready to throw hooves at a pony that seemed to be actively trying to control everything in Scratch's life.

She's defensive of me. She makes me smile. We have good times together. Lyra can suck it, I never felt this way about her. Oh… crap.

Scratch eyed Octavia suspiciously, not wanting her to turn out to be another Lyra. Though, she trusted Octy in a way she never trusted Lyra. Scratch decided that Octavia probably was into colts anyway, so nothing bad could happen. With a smile, her horn began to glow. Octavia looked over in time to get beamed in the back of the head with a pillow. She smiled and watched as Scratch trotted away.

"Why you little… Get back here!"

"Gotta catch me treble clef!"

Octavia gave chase after Scratch, the two giggling loudly. It wouldn't take long before they were at Scratch's house, looking a certain still-angry, mint green unicorn in the eyes.

Chapter Eight

Vinyl loved her house in the way anypony would love their house. It was her home. The place where she went after a hard day and hid away from anypony she didn't want to see. The familiar blue siding and jet black roof was a symbol of safety. After a long night of work, she would look forward to those crème colored window sills and her beaten up drive way. It was the finish line at the end of a race. It was beaten and old, sure, but she loved it all the same.

Right now, though, the very sight sent a shiver up her spine.

She stole a look at Octavia who had no doubt pegged exactly which house belonged to the white unicorn. Her lavender eyes no longer looked wild but instead quickly tried to absorb every corner and nail of the house. Vinyl sighed.

"Well. Here we are."

"Is it just coincidence that your house is the same color of your mane?" Octavia teased.

"Hey! My mane is WAY cooler than my house. Not that my house doesn't reek of the same kind of awesomeness that I do, but it's not AS cool. It gets a B- on the scale of lame pony to me."

Octavia rolled her eyes and trotted towards the house. Scratch trotted ahead of her and spun around, staring her in the eyes. The corner of Octavia's mouth twitched in a smile causing Scratch to lose her train of thought. She was quite easily distracted as is, throwing Octavia's smirk into the mix was just asking for trouble. She couldn't help the contagious grin that crept on her face.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I just can't wait to meet Lyra."

Scratch lowered her eyes at Octavia, certain that she was hiding something. She looked back towards her house, which was no less than five feet behind her flank.

"Alright. Just, play nice." Scratch hated how much she was conflicted by this meeting.

Octavia smiled warmly. "As I said, I will be the most pleasant pony unless provoked. I swear."

Scratch nodded and slowly turned towards her house. With a gulp, she gently cracked the main door open. The house looked dark. There was a small hope in Scratch's heart that she wouldn't have to deal with this tonight, that is until she noticed the shining yellow light emanating from under Bon Bon's bedroom door. As if a sensor went off, Lyra came barreling out of the room and down the hallway, towards Vinyl Scratch. The sound of Lyra's hooves on the hardwood floor said she was angry and ready to fight. Scratch walked into the kitchen, just steps out of the doorway, Octavia followed close by. Before Scratch could turn the light on, Lyra made it into the pitch black room.

"Nice of you to show up. We need to talk." Lyra demanded.

"Uh, now's not-"

"I can't believe you would say those things about me. I thought we were friends, Vinyl. And who is this other mar –"

Scratch flipped on the light, revealing a very smug Octavia staring down Lyra. Lyra's mouth hung open as she seemed to short circuit, trying to redirect the destination of her sentence. Octavia smiled, enjoying every second of the embarrassed flush on Lyra's face. Scratch wanted to laugh at Lyra for finally getting caught, but at the same time, she just wanted this whole thing to be done and over with.

"Uh, and who is the other mare that you have right behind you, Vinyl? Is this the friend you've told me so much about?"

Like a switch, Lyra's voice was sickly sweet, as thick as honey. Scratch knew what Lyra was doing. She was embarrassed by her rant in front of a new pony, and if there was one thing that Lyra didn't take kindly to, it was giving ANYpony the opportunity to judge her for anything negative at all. Appearance was far too important to her. Even if it was somepony that she already had a predisposition to disliking. What better way to make herself look good than to not only set up Scratch in front of Octavia with a double ended sentence, but also to strategically throw her own complaints in as well. Anger flashed through Scratch's face until Octavia looked back at her and melted it all away. Scratch was hoping that someday she would be able to look Octavia in her beautiful face and not lose sight of the world around her.

What was I doing? Right. Lyra. Great.

"Lyra, this is my friend Octavia. Octy, this is my… friend, Lyra."

"Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise."

"Well, now that you two have meet I think there is something Octavia needs to be doing. At home."

"Nonsense, Vina. I wouldn't dream of missing a night with you."

Lyra's nostrils flared at the same time her eye twitched. Scratch pretended not to notice. Mostly because she couldn't notice anything that wasn't Octavia. If Scratch's life rested on her thinking about anything other than Octavia, she would… probably think about food. But then she'd think about Octavia again, because that's really all that played through her mind.

"Ahem. Yes. Well. Bon Bon and I were going to head to The Square to do some window shopping. Might you two be interested in joining us?"

"Absolutely not." Scratch said.

"We would be delighted to." Octavia said, slightly louder than Scratch.

"Splendid. Let me go see if Bon Bon is ready."

As Lyra turned back down the hall, Scratch slowly moved her head to stare at Octavia. Her ruby eyes were as wide as they could stretch, not that Octavia could see them. Octavia returned Scratch's stare with a smile.

"Oh come now, you don't think I'd miss this, do you? She is proving that she hates a challenge. And if it is a challenge she wants, it is a challenge she will get."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Octavia beamed at Scratch while Scratch contemplated the ways in which she could immediately get sick and stay home. Food poisoning was a likely culprit, but the bird flu would work for sure. Before she had an escape plan, Lyra and Bon Bon emerged from the back of the house. Bon Bon was characteristically smiling as she always was. Lyra's face looked put together in a last second effort to maintain control. Scratch knew that Bon Bon could be blissfully ignorant of her fillyfriend's true emotions at times, but even a rock could see through Lyra's guise. It's not so easy to hide a murderous spark in one's eyes.

"You girls ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Scratch sighed, wishing she did in fact have the bird flu.

The four of them walked out of the house in silence and headed up the road. Lyra and Bon Bon walked in front of Octavia and Scratch. Octavia seemed content in her thoughts, to which Scratch used to her advantage of stealing glances at the gorgeous mare. Scratch could have spent hours studying Octavia. That is until her pleasant thoughts were broken by the last voice she wanted to hear addressing Octy.

"So, Octavia, do you live around here?"

"I do. I live fairly close to Vinyl, actually. Only a twenty minute walk or so. It's nice. It makes hanging out a lot more simple."

"Uh huh. I see. Any coltfriends?"

"Lyra." Vinyl hissed.

"Oh, no. No coltfriends to speak of."

Scratch's ears perked up as she stole yet another glace at her favorite mare. She knew that Lyra's questions would be all over the board, but if she was going to ask questions like that…

"Has Vinyl told you about any of her secrets yet?"

Scratch tried to set Lyra on fire with her mind. She knew that she was going to have to deal with attempts to embarrass her, but this outright? Scratch was livid.

"Ly. Ra. What. Are. You. DOING?" Scratch hissed, venom lacing her words.

"Well I guess that depends on what you're referring to. I mean, I know lots of stuff about Vinyl, but we don't exactly sit around asking what each other's secrets are for hours on end. She did tell me that she has a soft spot for foals, though."

Lyra was tired of playing games. "Anypony could have told you that. Her favorite thing in the whole wide Equestria, though, is when you tick-"

"ALRIGHT WE ARE DONE TALKING ABOUT THIS. HEY LOOK AT THOSE PONIES OVER THERE MAN DO THEY LOOK LIKE THEY ARE HAVING FUN OR WHAT."

Octavia giggled. Scratch was getting a headache. She could practically hear the smug smirk on Lyra's face. Lyra turned her attention to Bon Bon and began to talk in a low whisper. Scratch figured she was just buying time until the next attack at her pride. It was only a matter of time, really. Instead of dwelling on it, Scratch tried to act like she didn't care and did the only thing she knew would upset Lyra. She talked to Octavia.

"No colt friend, eh? I always figured you were dating one of your band dudes."

"Vinyl, for the last time, it's not a BAND. And second, no I am not dating any of them…"

"You're hiding something."

"You can't prove that."

"Then tell me you're not hiding anything."

"Tell me my music is better than yours."

"Is not!"

"Then I am not hiding anything." Said Octavia smugly.

"No! That's not how this works!"

"Nope. You said it yourself."

"No, what I said is that my music is better than yours."

"And I said that you had to say that my music was better than yours. But you didn't."

"No… but I said my music is better, which it is, and you said that since I didn't say your music is better, that you're not hiding anything. But since my music IS better, then I win anyway because I'm AWESOME."

"No ma'am. I said that I was not hiding anything. And then I said that you had to admit my music was better. You refused. Therefore, not only is my music STILL better, but I'm not hiding anything.

She's so frustrating. So… beautifully… frustrating…

"Hey Vinyl."

Vinyl grimaced. "Just a sec, Lyra. That is not the way this works."

"Oh yes it is. It is simple fact-"

"Vinyl."

Scratch scowled at Lyra this time, not caring if she saw. "Just a second. I don't want to lose my point."

"… Right. I was just saying that your argument is invalid because I said so. I am not hiding anything and you know you love Party in Equestria."

Scratch made a fake retching noise to which Octavia laughed. Scratch's head flickered towards Lyra and Octavia rolled her eyes. Clearly, both mares were irritated with Lyra's interruptions.

"What did you need, Lyra?"

"Nothing." Lyra snapped.

Scratch sighed and looked towards the sky, deflated. Why was it so hard to keep Lyra appeased? She was sure that Lyra was just angry because Scratch wouldn't let her talk, but her and Octavia were in the middle of a conversation. It wasn't about preference of one pony over another, it was just common courtesy. And if there was one pony that knew courtesy…well, it probably wasn't the pony that ran stark naked through Ponyville's square after a few too many birthday shots, but that was not the point.

"Hey Vinyl, do you know what road we have to take?"

"Uh, not really Bon Bon. There should be signs I think. I haven't been out this way in a while. Are you sure we haven't passed it yet? I know there's a sign somewhere."

"Perhaps you'd know if you were paying attention."

Scratch's head jerked towards Octavia who was doing her best not to laugh out loud. Octavia's lavender gems found Scratch and sparkled. Scratch rolled her eyes but couldn't help the resentment she felt towards Lyra. At the same time, though, she was conflicted because she couldn't completely break free of the three year old curse her ex had put on her. It was frustrating to hate and love somepony at the same time.

******

The sun was beginning to set but The Square was lit up with ponies of all ages. It was such a nice night that there was barely any room to move. Lyra whipped around unannounced and practically knocked Vinyl and Octavia on their flanks. Her eyes were angry as they glared into Scratch's glasses. She could see that the trek over had worn on Lyra's nerves and she could also sense the contempt pouring out of her very soul. Scratch decided to cut her off before she made another snide comment in Octavia's general direction.

"I assume you'll be in Celestia's Secret?"

Lyra held her face tight. "I will. Are you coming?"

Scratch looked at Octavia. "Well, I actually had something I wanted to look at, and I was hoping Vinyl could help me."

The only movement on Lyra's face was a slight twitch of a nostril, followed by a fake smile.

"Wonderful. I shall meet you back here in an hour. Come Bon Bon."

Like an obedient dog, Bon Bon followed closely and without fight. Scratch put her forehooves in her face and stood still for a second, until she felt a light pat on her shoulder. She looked up to see Octavia standing there with a smile, and immediately felt her heart enter her ear drums.

"She sure is pleasant. Come on, let's go look at stuff."

"Do you really need my help with something? I mean, I'm not opposed to Celestia's Secret if that's the case. I can be an impartial judge, honest."

Octavia smiled. "No you oaf. I just made an excuse so we wouldn't have to deal with HER for the entire night."

The two wandered in and out of stores for quite some time, making idle chit chat and talking about the wonderful personality of Lyra. Scratch could feel her bond with Octavia growing stronger by the second. A few times, Octavia had playfully shoved Scratch for being her usual smart mouth self, which in turn made her try to find more ways to get a physical reaction out of Octy. She was long past the point of trying to figure out why she felt the way she did about Octavia. At this point, she was just trying to make her dreams a reality. Her reality began with as much physical contact as pony-ly possible.

Gotta take what I can get. My Luna I have problems… oh well! Let's see if I can get her to touch me again.

The two were in a small little shop with a wide variety of gag gifts and knick knacks. The kind of things you would only get somepony you didn't really want to talk to anymore. Or the kind of pony that was a distant cousin. Or both.

"So, Vinyl, I believe that Lyra was in the middle of saying something about a secret of yours."

"I… I don't recall. She was probably saying that I'm secretly, um, a turtle. Yep. I'm a turtle."

"You look more like a tortoise."

"What in the hay does that mean?"

"That means…"

Scratch was too absorbed in a 'talking human' toy to be fully paying attention to Octavia. The gray mare moved herself closely to Scratch and lifted a hoof, gently jabbing it in Scratch's ribcage.

"EEP!"

Octavia roared with laughter as the usually cool pony trotted a few steps in front of her, her white face painted in a familiar blush. She glared at the culprit, but there were no real traces of anger on her face. If only Octavia could see those eyes, though…

"Dude. Un. Cool."

"I thought it was quite cool."

"Oh yeah? How about this!"

Scratch jabbed a hoof of her own into Octavia's side. Her face fell as Octavia's laughter died down into chuckles, but not the good, ticklish kind.

"That is SO not fair!"

"Ah, life's not fair sometimes, dear friend."

"This is stupid. I want my money back."

"Well, I can just go home if you'd like."

"NO. I mean… no. Speaking of, though, it's about that time… isn't it?"

Octavia smiled at Scratch, who looked more than a little reluctant to go back and deal with her ex. Being around Vinyl helped Octavia relax and forget about certain members of her ensemble making her emotions a bit… difficult to deal with at times. Nevertheless, she enjoyed Vinyl's company. She wanted to continue enjoying it, too. What was it about those glasses though?

The two mares made their way back to the meeting point, finding a slightly more tolerable Lyra, now that she had spent some bits. The walk back was quiet, save from the giggling infiltrating the air from the back two ponies. Most notably, Octavia would tickle attack Scratch, much to the dismay and irritation of Lyra. Every time Lyra looked at Bon Bon, so she could look at this new mare, she noticed just how close the two were walking together. Not a moment too soon, the street for Lyra's apartment came up.

"Alright. Come on Bon Bon. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Vinyl. Nice meeting you, Octavia."

"And you as well. Good night!"

"Er, see ya."

Vinyl and Octavia both watched as Lyra's and Bon Bon's shadows faded into the distance. Scratch figured that Lyra had been counting the streets until she could leave. Jealousy probably was raging inside of her right now. She looked up at the now Luna dominated sky and sadly looked back at Octavia. She did her best to not let her disappointment echo in her voice.

"I guess you'll want to call it a night, then?"

"Well… not really. I'm having a really nice night and I don't have to do anything until afternoon tomorrow. So if you wanted to watch a movie or something…"

Scratch thought for a second. On one hoof, she was frustrated because Lyra was, as usual, intent on ruining a nice thing in Scratch's life. She needed a drink and some time to forget about her. On the other hoof…

Dude, who CARES? Octy wants to come home with you. Are you seriously standing here like a moron and not ushering her back to your place for a movie?

"Yeah, I'm pretty starved so I can make some dinner while we're at it. And I don't know about you, but I could use a drink after dealing with Controlling McCrazy all night."

Octavia smiled. "I would love a drink. Got any shots?"

Scratch smiled. Here's to hoping I don't end up naked again… wait.

"Sure do, Octy. Let's go get our drink on!"

Chapter Nine

Vinyl Scratch and Octavia slammed yet another round of empty shot glasses on the table in front of them, alcohol slashing onto the counter, making it sticky. Octavia felt the warmth of the alcohol slide down her esophagus while the enticing aroma of spaghetti and daises wafted through the entire house. She swayed in her chair, watching Vinyl from a mere six feet away. She felt more comfortable in Vinyl's presence than she had been with anypony else in a long time. There was something about the DJ that just made her feel at home, feel welcome, feel… safe, almost. She liked being around Vinyl. Vinyl didn't get weirded out when she wasn't a perfectly proper mare. Octavia didn't really have a lot of reason to want to leave her side. That could have just been the alcohol thinking for her, though.

Scratch was in slightly better shape than Octavia was. Not to say that she was totally sober, but she had a little more body weight to absorb the green apple poison they were consuming roughly once every fifteen minutes. Never the less, she swayed backwards a bit and caught Octavia staring at her.

"What'reya lookin' at?"

"Nothing."

"Y'are too lookin' at somethin'. Yer lookin' at me. I'm not just somethin'. I'm EVERYTHIN'."

"And if I was looking at 'everything'?"

"Why come?"

Octavia giggled. Vinyl was cute when she was a bit drunk. A guilty blush immediately pushed its way to the surface of Octavia's cheeks, but Scratch had turned back to the food and therefore didn't see. Octavia blushed harder not knowing what had come over her. It wasn't like she liked mares or anything… right?

"I hope yer hungry, Octy. This here's the best spaghetti this side of… um, some place that sells really good spaghetti. And there's lots of it too."

Scratch was used to eating quickly. It was a bad habit that she picked up from her father in fillyhood, only to be reinforced by a busy career that gave her little time to eat. Rather, she would have more time to eat if she woke up before the crack of four in the afternoon. It was no surprise to Scratch when she downed two plates before Octy fully finished one. Octavia ate more slowly, savoring every bite. She had to hoof it to Vinyl, she wasn't a terrible cook. She wanted to eat more, but found that the combination of alcohol and food was making her feel extraordinarily full. Scratch had already cleared her plate and took her seat next to Octavia, talking with her as she attempted to finish. Scratch grinned.

"You full? Pretty good food, ain't it?" The food had done wonders for Scratch's sobriety. Octavia on the other hand, wasn't as lucky.

"No! I still have food left!"

Scratch's grin was beginning to hurt as it stretched into a wide smile.

"I know I'm an awesome cook, but you don't have to finish it all. There's plenty more for if you get hungry later."

"No! I can't waste food! It's against my religion!" Octavia stated through a laugh.

"Well, maybe my friends blowing up because of food is against mine. Gimme that."

Scratch tried to take the plate away from Octavia, only to have her hoof slapped away. Scratch cocked an eyebrow. She couldn't help but love the goofy, feisty side of Octavia. She also felt proud because she figured that not a lot of ponies would be able to see this side of the usually proper pony.

"Come on now, Octy. Are you really going to finish this?"

"Yes! There are sober kids in Appleloosa!"

The house exploded with laugher. Scratch fell back on her haunches, holding her stomach, unable to get air. Octavia's head plopped on the table as she too realized her mistake. Scratch pushed herself up and looked at Octavia who was wiping a laughter-induced tear from her eye.

"You know what? Maybe you SHOULD finish. Celestia knows you could use the food. Ya drunk."

Scratch barely ducked the fork that came hurdling her way.

******

"So what movie do you want to watch?"

Scratch had finally wrestled the plate of spaghetti away from Octavia after she promised not to throw it out, in favor of those sober Appleoosa fillies. The kitchen had been sort of picked up and now the two stood in the living room. Octavia took in the surroundings of the room. The walls were a bright purple, they looked like they had recently been painted. The faded red carpeting on the floor looked like it had seen better days, but she figured the shade of red didn't clash too horribly with the walls. There was a wide window directly across from the TV so that a pony walking by could see what anypony within was watching. Against a wall, to the right of a TV, was a shoddy old loveseat. Octavia sat here, where there just happened to be a foot recliner.

"Oh I don't care, Vinyl. Surprise me."

"What do you like?"

"Anything."

"You're never going to give me a straight answer, are you?"

"A lady never reveals her secrets."

"What do secrets have to do with movies?"

"What DON'T they have to do with movies?"

Scratch grumbled to herself as she scanned her movie shelf. She was by no means a movie pony so her shelf wasn't exactly full. Movies took too much concentration for a pony who felt like if she sat still for more than thirty seconds she might explode into tiny colored papers of boredom and confusion with a dash of hungry. She'd rather just listen to music.

"If you don't give me an answer, I'm going to throw in the bloodiest movie I own."

"I want another shot."

Vinyl sighed and gave Octavia a look of annoyance which quickly faded when Octavia unleashed her sad lavender eyes. Scratch immediately wondered why she ever told Octavia that pouting was like kryptonite for her.

"I'll get you another shot if you tell me what movie you want to watch."

"Whatever is in your hoof."

"Kill Buck."

"Great. Where's my shot?"

Octavia was borderline belligerent when she was drunk and Scratch loved every second of it. She was so out of character, so unrestrained from the Octavia that was constantly out in public. She seemed free. Scratch could feel herself falling deeper and deeper into a state of no return. She poured the shots and stood for a moment, thinking about her feelings for Octavia. She sighed, knowing there was no way to fight any of it. She had to refill her shot glass an extra time before she got back into the living room.

Octavia was stretched out, her hooves laying on the extended rest of the loveseat. Scratch brought her what had to be their millionth shot. The two toasted and downed the radioactive green liquid. Scratch plopped herself on the loveseat next to Octavia, wondering if Octy would think to question Scratch not sitting across the room on the only other free chair. The movie began to roll as Scratch eyed Octavia nervously. Octavia could feel Scratch's eyes on her. When she turned to look, though, Scratch was looking at the TV. At least it looked like she was looking at the TV. Octavia was never sure with those glasses on. Octavia looked down and realized she had begun to lean very heavily towards her generous host. She was also slowly sliding down the chair, in danger of falling off. She thought about righting herself but instead idly played with her mane nervously and looked up at Scratch.

"How come you wear those glasses all the time?" Octavia said gently.

Scratch jumped a bit. Not because she was watching the movie and got startled, but rather because of the carefulness that laced Octavia's words. Scrach's heart was melting. She practically fell into those eyes.

"Oh. Just because." She said, coolly.

"Vinyl. The lights are off. It's dark outside. The only light we have is the movie. And you're telling me you can see with those things on?"

"It's just kind of my thing. Somepony would have to be pretty special to see me without them. Or worse yet, try to wear them. They're my glasses. Ponies know me by my glasses. Very few ponies outside of my parents and Lyra know the gorgeous face behind the awesome shades. That's just how I roll, babycakes."

"So I'm not somepony special?"

You raging idiot. Had to use the 's' word, didn't you? You're a glutton for punishment.

But Scratch could barely even hold onto those thoughts. Octavia's body began to lean more and more towards Scratch, so much so that she was practically in Scratch's lap. Scratch felt like she was pinned against the back of the couch. She was too excited by the idea of Octavia leaning into her. Scratch figured that Octy liked colts, but body language spoke louder than words, right? The darkness of the room added to Scratch's befuddled thoughts, as she looked down upon Octavia with nothing more than the glow of the TV lighting her features.

"I never said that."

Scratch couldn't raise her voice any higher than a croak. Wordlessly, Octavia slowly reached a hoof up and tapped the glasses. Scratch instinctively jerked away, causing Octavia to look away, dejected.

"Wait."

Octavia turned her head back up towards Scratch. Again, she slowly reached towards the glasses until she was touching them. Scratch had no idea why she was letting Octavia take her glasses off. Rather, she did, but she didn't care to start tossing around words like that. Carefully, Octavia pulled the purple shades away from the white unicorns face. Scratch kept her eyes closed for a long moment, until she felt Octavaia's hoof on her chin.

"Why won't you let me see? I thought I was special."

Scratch couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head as she slowly opened her eyes. This was a guilt trip that Scratch didn't hate. In fact, she was eating up the extra attention from Octavia. Octavia's eyes grew wider in anticipation until she looked into Scratch's brilliant ruby red eyes. She audibly gasped.

"Why in Equestria would you hide those?" She whispered.

Scratch shrugged, hoping the darkness of the room would hide the glowing red blush on her face.

"Dunno. Like I said. It's just my thing. Just kinda my thing."

Octavia held Scratch's eyes for a long while. She just couldn't bring herself to look away from them. She had never seen anything like them in all of her days. Why would Vinyl try to hide something so amazing from the public? Was it the glasses… or was it something that Scratch wanted to keep a mystery? Octavia examined the glasses in her hooves, finally breaking free from her trance.

Vinyl watched silently as Octavia hooved her glasses. She was staring at them intently, seemingly deep in thought. Then she put them on.

"You're pushing it, Octy."

Octavia and Vinyl locked eyes again. It was weird for Scratch to be on the other side of the purple lenses and equally as weird for Octavia to see the world in a purple haze. Vinyl looked amused rather than the irritation that she tried to inject in her voice. Octavia's lips curled into a brilliant smile. She was positive that Vinyl was enjoying herself as much as she was. Which was far more than she cared to admit, considering she was in the presence of another mare.

"Oh, you're big talk but you don't scare me."

"You clearly have been drinking a bit if I don't scare you. Scratch'll slap a mare."

Octavia responded with a less-than-scared grunt and turned her attention back to the movie. Scratch sank back into the loveseat, but noticed how close she was to Octavia, who still appeared to be leaning towards her. As the movie went on, Scratch noticed Octavia jumping when the going got bloody.

"You're name is Buck… right? And you like to… SLAM"

"Scared pony."

"I am not! I just don't expect things sometimes. I'm not scared. I am not a vile pony who enjoys watching other ponies get their heads slammed in doors."

"As vile as a terrible vampire movie, butt-for-butt."

"You only- wait what did you call me?"

"Butt for butt."

"Whajit… why?"

"OHMYCELESTIABLOOD!" Scratch screamed suddenly.

Octavia gave another small jump and thanked Scratch in the form of a right hoof to the rib cage. Scratch yelped as Octavia continued her attack for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, on her own grounds, Octavia quickly retracted and returned her attention the movie with a smug grin. Scratch noticed the gap between her and Octy had gotten smaller after their tussle. She tried to forget about it and absorb herself in the movie, laughing when most ponies would cringe. That's when she felt a weight gently push on her shoulder. It was all she could do to not freak out and run around the room.

With assistance from a full belly and alcohol, Octavia had fallen asleep. And due to her already leaning posture, she drifted lazily onto Vinyl Scratch's shoulder. Scratch never wanted it to end. Her breath became shallow, not wanting to do anything that could wake Octavia. She savored every second of it. The warmth of her body. Her slow, shallow breaths. The smell of her mane. How adorable she looked with Scratch's glasses still on her face. Scratch grimaced. She usually didn't let anypony wear her glasses. Not even Lyra wore them unless she was trying to piss Scratch off.

The part that bothered her wasn't that Octavia was wearing them, it was that she didn't care. She actually quite liked it. Scratch wasn't sure what Octavia could do to get under her skin. The movie rolled on but Scratch's attention was on Octavia, as per usual. She could have sat there for the rest of the night and just watched the sleepy movements of her beloved. Scratch just wished she could see her face. She wished that she could be holding Octavia in her forehooves as opposed to her just falling asleep on her. She took a chance and used her magic to ease her glasses off of Octavia's face. She had fallen asleep with her glasses on before, it wasn't exactly comfortable. She didn't get the glasses off before Octy started to stir.

Octavia curled herself into a ball, bringing herself closer to Scratch. Her forehooves entwined themselves around Scratch's right forehoof. Octavia repositioned her head, bringing her muzzle into Scratch's neck. Scratch could have mirrored a statue, she was so still. She now had a decent view of Octavia's content, sleeping face, but the feeling of electric, raw joy coursing through Vinyl's body made it hard for her to focus again. She tried to calm the jolts in her chest to little avail. For a moment she closed her eyes and just savored the moment.

You know, when I said I wanted to SLEEP with Octy… ah, who am I kidding. This is more perfect than anything I could have asked for.

Octavia woke up and looked up to see where she was. She wasn't in her own bed, she knew that much. And she was quite warm considering the lack of covers on her pony. She saw a dark… something. Why did everything look so funny? Then it occurred to her. She took Vinyl's glasses off as she sat up and smiled, trying to avoid eye contact. She couldn't stay away from those gems for too long, though.

"I, uh, sorry about that, Vinyl…"

"Ah, no sweat Octy. It's all daisies."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Not sure. Movie's been over for at least a couple minutes though."

"You could have woken me."

"Nah. You looked peaceful. Besides, you weren't hurting anypony."

"Isn't there a second part to this movie?"

"Yeah. There is. Want me to put it in?"

Octavia nodded as Scratch immaturely giggled at her own innuendo. Octavia smiled as she curled into a ball facing the opposite way of Scratch's seat. Scratch grimaced, wondering if she had read Octavia's body language wrong. As a test, Scratch sat down in the same spot, leaving a strategic amount of room between the two. There was slightly more room that before, but there would barely be enough room for a cat to curl between them. Though she was sure a cat would definitely try. Octavia looked over her shoulder once and held bare eye contact for a long moment, then returned her attention to the movie. Scratch wasn't sure why her chest felt empty all of a sudden.

About a half hour into the movie, Scratch leaned forward to try to see if Octy was sleeping. The grey mare's eyes were closed, her breathing soft. She looked a little chilly so Scratch got up from the couch and grabbed the comforter from the big chair in the corner. She gently laid it over Octavia and grinned when she cuddled into the warm blanket. Scratch stood over Octavia for a long minute, taking in every feature of her face. She smiled down at the sleepy pony but the smile never touched her eyes. With nopony around to see, Scratch didn't have to pretend to be cool or in control. She felt disappointment bubbling to the surface. Octavia would never be in her forelegs, wrapped into a warm embrace on a cold winter night. She would never get to kiss Octy good night. As her feelings grew, she became more uncertain that Octavia was somepony special for her.

Over the weeks, she had been more and more convinced that she met Octavia because of some reason she didn't really know of. It wasn't just a chance, it was somehow just supposed to happen. She was all too well aware of how stupid it sounded, and she was sure that anypony she told would immediately dismiss her theory. But how else could she explain the rapid fluttery feeling in her chest whenever Octavia was around? How else could she describe the hold Octavia had on her that nopony else ever could dream of having? Scratch wasn't the kind of pony to dive into things so suddenly. Nothing about anything made sense.

As Scratch dejectedly turned to walk down the hall and into her bedroom, she realized that she didn't want to be away from Octavia. Scratch turned around and quietly tip hooved into the living room. Octavia was still out cold, snuggled tightly into her blanket. Scratch smiled as she suddenly felt any unsure feelings slip away and disappear into the darkness like an animal roaming in the night. Looking at Octavia… Scratch felt empowered. She felt a grin sneak on her face as she took her place in the chair across the room and curled into a ball. She could almost smell Octavia's mane on her shoulder.

"I won't give up on you Octy. I won't give up on us."

Scratch rolled over and fell into a deep sleep all the while dreaming of holding Octavia just one time.

Chapter Ten

Vinyl Scratch found herself at some sort of party on a beach. The sun was setting, coating the normally blue sky in a deep orange. The water below soaked the colors up as if they were its own, making it seem like there was a lake of fire. There were ponies everywhere. Some she recognized as bartenders from gigs she had played. Some she hadn’t seen since she was a filly in school. And she could have sworn she heard Pinkie Pie’s manic laughter somewhere in the distance. The lanterns surrounding a large patch of grass sparked on, casting a white glow onto anypony that was near. Scratch couldn’t help but feel like there was someone watching her; it was starting to freak her out.

“This sure is a nice party, isn’t it Vinyl?”

Scratch jumped but immediately recognized the voice and smiled.

“Sure is Octy!”

Vinyl turned around and confirmed that Octavia was behind her. Scratch scrunched her face; Octy looked different somehow. Her lids were half lowered and a sly smirk was on the grey mare’s face. She slowly walked closer to Scratch. Her voice was low, seductive almost.

“I bet I know how we could make it… better…”

Vinyl watched as Octavia walked slowly around her, almost as if she was stalking her prey. She brushed her body against Scratch’s and slowly nuzzled Scratch’s neck. Vinyl’s heart sputtered for a second before picking up at a rapid pace. She could feel Octavia’s breath on her ear as she whispered.

“I think we could make it MUCH better…”

Vinyl was suddenly in a room she didn’t recognize. There was a dull light emanating from a row of candles in the corner. She was on her back in what she assumed was a bed. Octavia sauntered out from a dark corner, a near predatory smile on her face. Octavia didn’t say a word as she slowly climbed on the bed, standing over Vinyl. Scratch watched in anticipating silence as Octavia slowly reached back. Her pink bowtie fell onto Scratch’s chest. Octavia was lowering her head down, lips parted. Vinyl was so excited she could barely breathe…

Vinyl was jerked out of her sleep. She wasn’t exactly sure, but she thought she could hear music. It sounded all weird and muffled though.

“Hello Mister Horseshoepin, how are you this morning?”

What in the hay? Who is she talking to?

Vinyl poked her head out of the covers to see Octavia talking to… something. Or someone. Who in the hay was Frederic, anyway?

“Oh, sure, I wouldn’t mind that. When is it? Yes, that will work fine. Alright, see you later Frederic.”

Octavia snapped her phone shut and noticed a pair of ruby eyes gazing at her from across the room. With a jump she smiled.

“Oh, good morning Vinyl. I didn’t see you there…” Octavia cocked an eyebrow but didn’t bother to ask Vinyl why exactly she wasn’t sleeping in her bed. A thought crossed her mind but Octavia would never assume that just because a friend of hers liked mares, that she automatically liked her. She wasn’t that ignorant.

“Yeah. Top ‘o the mornin’ and whatnot. Wassat?”

Vinyl flung her blanket to the side and plopped down next to Octavia.

“This? It’s a portable cellular telephone device.”

Scratch scrunched her face, skepticism prominent in her still glasses-less eyes.

“When did you get that?”

“Oh, I’ve had it. They give it to all of us ensemble ponies for easy access. Just to make sure that we can track somepony down if they are running late for a performance. It’s an insurance sort of thing for the music director. This way, he knows that if Beauty Brass gets distracted, as she is so known to do, we can give her a ring and she’ll be right back on track.”

Scratch nodded. The thingy was cool and all but she didn’t care too much about how or why or when she got it. She cared about the sparkle in Octavia’s eyes when she was talking on it. The lightness in her voice when she was talking to this… colt. Scratch tried to keep her face straight. She decided the best way to attack this would be from a playful stance.

“So, that’s all well and great, but who’s Frederic? Is he your coooooltfriend?” Vinyl taunted.

Octavia smirked as a blush played lightly against her face. “I wouldn’t call him THAT. He’s not even interested.”

Despite the pang of heartache in her chest, Vinyl pressed on. She had an inexplicable craving to know more about this Frederic.

“Alright Octy. Come on. You said HE’S not interested. But…”

“Well… I don’t know, Vinyl. It’s complex at best. He is a fantastic colt. Funny, smart, nice. Except… well, he doesn’t always react well when mares confess things like this to him. He found out a long time ago that Beauty Brass had a crush on him and he ceased talking to her for quite some time. He is a very good friend to me… he’s the reason I’m in the ensemble, the reason why I got a chance at all. No one thought the pony without magic could play a stringed instrument well, but he convinced them to give me a chance. It is just not a pleasant feeling knowing that I will never be good enough for him.”

“Yeah, I know THAT feeling.” Vinyl muttered, dejected.

“So I guess to answer your question, yes, I do have a bit of a… a thing for him. I am also fully aware that nothing will ever come of it.”

“So you’re in love with this colt but you’re just giving up on him? How do you know he’ll reject you?” Vinyl wasn’t sure why she was pressing the matter so hard, when her heart hurt so badly.

Octavia was contemplative for a moment, which was fine because Vinyl was weighing the irony of her words. If irony was magic, her house would be more powerful than Twilight Sparkle. She watched Octavia, hoping that she would refute the ‘in love with’ part.

“It’s not that simple. I know that he doesn’t like me like that, because he would have done something about it. He is not shy about these sorts of things. And like I said, I cannot risk losing his friendship. That would hurt more than anything else, I’d imagine.”

Well, there you go, Vinyl. She loves this Frederic dude. You’re screwed.

“Aw, come on Octy. You’re an awesome mare. Don’t be so unsure! Maybe it would be different with you. Maybe he’s just harboring all these feelings because he’s not sure about your feelings. Eh? Ever thing of THAT?”

Again, Vinyl wondered about the irony of her words. She figured at this point, she could take all of Equestria and move it somewhere else with the amount of irony-power she had.

“I highly doubt that. Believe me.”

Octavia got to her hooves and stretched.

“I hate to dash off right away but I need to have a bath before I go practice with the ensemble later. Thank you for a very fun and interesting night.”

Vinyl forced herself to look into Octavia’s eyes and smile. The two held eye contact for a long moment before Octavia broke the silence.

“You really should consider not wearing your glasses as much.”

Much to her dismay, Vinyl felt a blush rise in her cheeks. She mumbled something so incoherent, even she wasn’t exactly sure what she had said.

“See you later, Vinyl.”

Octavia gently shut the door behind her. Scratch immediately slammed her head against the back of the couch. She stared up at the ceiling for a long time, damning her masochistic soul for acting like she hadn’t a care in the world. Scratch beat the back of her head against the frame of the couch a few more times.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. How am I so stupid? Remind me again why I haven’t given up? UGH!”

Vinyl slammed her hoof into a couch cushion. She was so beside herself. How could she let herself believe she had even a small chance with a mare as classy and gorgeous as Octy? She was disgusted with herself. She hated how she felt. She hated being inexplicably in love with somepony.

“I’m not in love with her.” Scratch growled to herself.

She hated how there felt like there was a giant hole in her chest, even though she was never really ‘with’ Octavia. It was like she just got broken up with. All she wanted was a sign. Just one sign that she was going down the right road. She could feel in her heart that Octavia was supposed to be an important part of her life… but what if she was wrong? Scratch was getting so frustrated her eyes were beginning to sting with tears. She blinked them back being much too proud to cry over a mare she refused to admit she loved. Scratch heard a knock at the door and sighed. She didn’t want to see anypony right now. She was too busy feeling sorry for herself. There was a second knock. Vinyl considered telling whoever was on the other side to buck off. After a third, more urgent knock, she wiped her face and heaved herself off the couch.

“I swear to Celestia if it’s freaking Lyra on the other side of the door I might scream.”

Vinyl swung open the door and immediately stapled a smile on her face. It wasn’t hard to do as Octavia was grinning at her from the other side of the door.

“You know I was thinking… what are you doing tomorrow night?”

“I… uh… nothing.”

“Would you like to come with me to a classical concert? You can meet Frederic.”

Vinyl made a face. “Classical music ain’t really my gig, Tavi.”

“Aw, come on Vinyl. It’s a bunch of high schoolers. Apparently, Frederic’s sister is playing. I probably won’t enjoy it either. And if that’s the case, I’ll need a good pillow to sleep on.”

Vinyl stared at Octavia, confused, for a second. When the lightbulb kicked on, Scratch felt like a foal. Both because of the embarrassment of not knowing, and Octavia’s not-so-subtle hint, Scratch’s face lit up like a fire. She did her best to brush it off.

“Oh you mean my shoulder! Yeah, I AM pretty awesomely comfy, huh? Alright Octy, just for you, I’ll be there. I gotta judge this Frederic colt anyway. Not just anyone is good enough for my Tavi.”

“You know Vinyl, you might be the only pony in Equestria that can get away with all these nicknames. Not many can say that they’ve bastardized my name and lived to tell the tale.”

Vinyl smiled proudly. “That’s probably because of how stellar I am.”

Octavia chuckled. “Something like that. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Seven o clock sharp at the school. Don’t be late my Vina.”

Octavia trotted off into the distance with Scratch watching longingly for some time. Longingly with a side of sneaking a peek at her bottom, if she was honest. When Octavia was out of sight, she slowly shut the door and fell against the door, sliding down onto her haunches. She rested her head against it and once again stared up at the ceiling.

"My Vina."

She chuckled to herself. It was so funny how her mood could turn on a dime like that. Perhaps Frederic wasn’t as much of a problem as he seemed, seeing as Octavia could have him all to herself for the show. Not only that, but Octavia had also said that she wouldn’t enjoy the show. Vinyl made a face, turning the words over in her head.

“Either Octy really, really wants me there… for some reason that I won’t even dare to explain, or she heard my whining.”

Vinyl pushed herself off the floor, unsure of Octavia’s true motives but more than excited for the concert.

Chapter Eleven

The sound of Vinyl’s hooves marching on the thin carpet in the next room were enough to drive Lyra crazy. She was laying on Bon Bon’s bed, curled into her fillyfriend’s chest. Bon Bon was staring dreamily at the ceiling with one hoof loosely draped over Lyra’s back and the other propped under her head.

“I wonder what Vinyl is so eager about.” Lyra said with an edge in her voice.

Bon Bon awkwardly shrugged, not hearing Lyra’s change in tone. Sometimes Bon Bon’s apathy was enough to make Lyra want to scream. She was so innocent minded, so careless. Didn’t Bon Bon see that Vinyl was in the process of ruining everything? For once, couldn’t Bon Bon open her eyes and see what was right in front of her? She was so content in her little world that she didn’t really care to see the picture outside of herself and Lyra. It was like she had two modes: work mode and other. Other being the one where she doesn’t know anything about life. Not that Bon Bon was stupid, no not at all. She was just sheltered and innocent… and occasionally failed to see the most obvious of things no matter how hard they hit her in the face.

Right now, Lyra was just irritable and it wasn’t helping that Vinyl wouldn’t quit using the house as her personal marathon training ground. Lyra looked at Bon Bon’s face, which had no signs of caring whatsoever. Lyra’s irritation fell away when she reminded herself of how fortunate she was that Bon Bon didn’t care to know everything. That might end up in a mess that Lyra had no plans to deal with or acknowledge. She relaxed into Bon Bon’s embrace, finally trying to enjoy the night.

“I think she has a date or something tonight.”

Lyra almost broke her neck when she snapped her head up to look at Bon Bon.

Vinyl Scratch was pacing back and forth in her room. She didn’t want to meet Frederic. She didn’t want him to have a face. If he was a faceless enemy then she wouldn’t have a problem feeling the way she did for Octavia. This was a battle Vinyl didn’t feel like making friends in. But at the same time, Octavia looked so eager to have her along… What if Frederic was just some sideshow pony and Octavia really had feelings for Vinyl? Or, more probable, what if she just enjoyed Vinyl a little and really WAS in love with Frederic? What if Vinyl would never really know either way?

“Ugh!”

Vinyl had spent the better part of 48 hours convincing herself that Octavia just saw her as a friend. Somewhere, though, in the back of her emotionally masochistic mind was a voice that told her that she WASN’T over analyzing everything. Again. She wanted so badly to just let the cards fall but for some reason, she couldn’t relax. She had never had this problem before. She never really cared if a mare said no because there were other ponies in the barn. The problem was that Vinyl was so emotionally invested in Octavia that she wasn’t quite sure how she would react if Octavia turned her down. Even though it was in vain, Vinyl did her best to build some confidence.

“Alright Vinyl… you gotta be cool. Can’t screw this up. This is important. Maybe I can like… I don’t know. Junk punch him. Maybe he’s gay. Maybe… maybe a piano will fall on his head or something. God this sucks.”

“Nervous?”

Vinyl jumped at the curt voice that resonated from her doorway. She whipped around and found Lyra, fake smile plastered on her face, glaring into her room. Vinyl knew that Lyra was an emotional ninja, able to conceal herself at any turn to fool even the greatest of masters. But even a filly could read the tense, accusing tones in her body and voice. Lying to Lyra right now would not make her happy, but Vinyl wasn’t exactly in the mood to chat.

“No.”

“Oh, come come now, Vinyl. You can’t hide things from me. You’ve even said yourself, I know you better than you do.”

Vinyl snorted, angry at herself for ever saying such a thing. When she didn’t respond, Lyra took it upon herself to come in and plop down on the bed. Vinyl heaved a sigh. She really didn’t want to get all riled up and then go see Octavia and Colt for Brains, as Frederic was so lovingly referred to.

“So, what’s up?”

“If you must know, Lyra, I’m going to hang out with Octavia tonight. That’s it. Pretty scandalous huh?”

“Don’t lie to me. I heard you talking to yourself. Where are you going? What are you doing tonight?”

“I TOLD you. I’m going to see Octavia.”

“Why are you hiding things from me again?”

“Fine. Sorry. I’m going to go see Octavia and we’re going to do a BOAT load of cocaine and go rob the princesses.”

Lyra cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t be like that.”

“Lyra, I really don’t have the time for this.”

“Oh, but you have time to go get drunk with somepony you don’t even know? This is ridiculous, Vinyl. Ever since she came along, you've been pushing me away. Why?”

Vinyl could feel herself start to shake with anger. Lyra was just as blind as Bon Bon was sometimes. Vinyl was dead inside for months, listlessly going along with any stupid thing Lyra wanted. And almost every time it meant that Vinyl was playing the third wheel to Lyra and Bon Bon, watching idly as they made kissy faces at each other. She was so in love with Lyra that she didn’t care how much it hurt, she was willing to deal with the pain no matter what. Now she looked Lyra in her beady, golden eyes and couldn’t tell if she felt love, resentment, or heartburn from a really spicy lunch.

Even still, it wasn't worth it to fight with Lyra. Not now, not when she had more important things to do. Again, she sighed.

“I’m sorry Lyra. I just have a lot of stuff going on. But don’t blame Octy. She hasn’t done anything, and you know that’s not fair to drag her into this. If you want my attention, you’ve got it. But later, okay?”

“… Fine.”

Lyra got up without another word, or look in Vinyl’s direction for that matter, and returned to Bon Bon’s room. Vinyl ran a hoof over her face and took a deep breath.

“Well then. Great way to start the night.” She muttered, sarcastically, before storming out the door.

Vinyl could barely control her hoof as she knocked on Octavia’s door. She felt like she’d be able to steady herself better if she was standing on a jackhammer. Her stomach was trying to earn a merit badge for all the different knots it was tying itself into. She wanted to throw up but she was also pretty sure that was going to completely ruin her appetite for dinner. She was still irritated with Lyra, but her mind and emotions were almost one hundred percent on Octavia.

“Oh, hey Vinyl.”

She had been so neurotic with her thoughts, she didn't even hear the door crack open. Somehow, though, as inexplicably as everything else currently in her life, Octavia’s smooth voice melted away all of Vinyl’s anxieties with an ease of a summer sun roasting some ice cream. The sudden calmness almost threw Vinyl off balance.

“Oh, uh h-hey Octy! What’s the haps?”

Vinyl watched as Octavia’s smile grew slowly wider and was once again thankful for her ever present glasses. Octavia’s mane had a fresh-out-of-the-shower smell and perfume wafted into Vinyl’s nostrils. The glowing, pure smile and unmistakable twinkle in Octavia’s eyes was enough to make Vinyl’s heart swell.

Focus. Focus. Focus. Ooohprettypony. FOCUS!

“Well, I have some… interesting changes for tonight.”

Vinyl followed Octavia into her apartment. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t a dirty place. Every pillow seemed to be placed at just the correct angle, every towel or blanket was folded into a neat square. There were no dishes in the sink. But there did seem to be organized stacks of paper chaos at every turn. Vinyl shrugged, not really a neat freak herself.

“What kind of changes? Are we gonna go feed some sober Appleoosa kids?”

“Oh ha ha. Very funny. No, actually… there was a bit of a mix-up. You see, Frederic is a masterful sheet music reader, but apparently he cannot read a date very well. The concert isn’t tonight, it’s next Thursday.”

“What.”

Vinyl was simultaneously elated and irritated. She didn’t have to meet Frederic tonight. She didn’t have to see him and his dumb, stupid colty face potentially ogling her Octavia. She didn’t have to risk seeing her favorite lavender eyes ogling him back. She didn’t have to spend the entire evening wondering what exactly she meant to Octavia. It was a weight off of her shoulders.

On the other hoof, she spent the last three hours with her stomach doing the tango, she almost threw up outside, and she was pretty sure she ran into a building because she wasn’t paying attention. At least, that’s why she thought she had a slight headache.

“Yeah. Sorry. I know you were really excited to go to the concert. But I was hoping that maybe I could make it up to you.”

Who’s mad about tonight? I’m not mad about tonight. No one’s mad about tonight. Tonight is awesome and great and greatly awesome and amazing awesomely great and…

“Yeah, sure. I’m down for whatever really. What did you have in mind?”

“How do you feel about musicals?”

“Musicals.” Vinyl deadpanned.

“Broadway musicals.”

“Broadway musicals…”

“Performed by college kids.” Octavia's eyes were hopeful but she kept her tone even.

“Ah… what?” Vinyl shook her head.

“Aw, come on Vinyl. It’ll be fun. I promise.”

“I don’t know Octy… a musical? I don’t know if I can do a musical. It’s… it’s…”

“It’s music. Catchy music. With good actors and characters. For me? Please?”

“I…”

Vinyl looked into Octavia’s wide eyes. Her bottom lip was pushed out only marginally farther than the top. She blinked twice, quickly. Vinyl exhaled, letting her protests leave her mind.

“You’re lucky I like you so much.”

A small rush of blood reached Vinyl’s cheeks. Octavia smiled, looking Vinyl right in the glasses with a large smirk.

“I know! Let’s go.”

Chapter Twelve

A soft murmur filled the small, somewhat dingy, college auditorium. Ponies filed in slowly with still plenty of time until the show began. Vinyl and Octavia sat only a few rows back, on the right side of the stage. Vinyl hadn’t seen too many plays in her day, she never cared for them. They were always so boring and hard to follow. Not only that, but it was a miracle if she could sit still for more than ten seconds. But the persistently growing, excited energy emanating from the room was too much for her to remain apathetic towards. That, and with Octavia sitting to the left of her, she was doing whatever she needed to, to remain calm. The seats had only a thin arm rest between them, and Vinyl had to focus to keep herself from leaning into her beloved.

There was a set of metal steps on the stage, leading up to a metal over hang. The over hand stretched backwards into a walkway, wherein it circled around to yet another over hang, this one with a ladder underneath. It reminded Vinyl of a fire escape on the outside of an old apartment building, somewhere near Manehatten. There were few other props. A lone table sat in the middle of the stage with aluminum trash cans littered along the edges. For the few props that there were, the stage still looked full.

Before long the lights dimmed, leaving the auditorium in complete darkness. The noise quickly dissipated, leaving an anxious feeling in the air. It was almost static with excitement. A piano began to play in the background and within seconds the auditorium was bursting with cheers. On stage, eight white hot spot lights fell onto eight separate ponies that stood still, smiling at the crowd. As they began to sing, Vinyl felt a weird feeling in her chest. They all sounded so... GOOD together.

“Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes…”

Okay you. Octy might have dragged you here. And you may or may not have a clue what you’re watching, but you will not enjoy this. Don’t do it. Or… something bad will happen!

Vinyl couldn’t help herself though. As the musical wore on, she found herself tapping her hoof in unison with the music. She expected less-than-great singers and a subpar, lifeless performance. But she was so entranced in the play, in the actors, that she didn’t notice the shift in Octavia’s posture. She found herself feeling one with the bumbling director pony, but found herself drawn to the brooding pony and his flirtatious dance with the small, admittedly gorgeous, mare. She giggled freely at the flamboyant pony in the Santa outfit, dancing around the makeshift apartment with skill she only dreamed of having.

The normally hyper-aware-of-Octavia sense Vinyl had was completely thwarted by this musical. Which is why when the lights came up for intermission, Vinyl was so startled she could have wet herself.

Octavia was resting her head on her hoof and leaned so far towards Vinyl that her head was on the Vinyl’s side of the arm rest. The white unicorn tried to nonchalantly relax into her seat in order to get a better look at Octavial, but it was hard to not get caught staring when Octavia was looking right at her. She looked down and smiled warmly at the pony she refused to admit she was falling quickly in love with. Octavia smiled, melting all the icicles in any part of Equestria or the universe.

“So, are you willing to admit I was right?”

“Eh, I guess it's not vomit- inducingly awful.” Vinyl said with a smile.

Octavia playfully nudged Vinyl in the rib, which was returned with a glare. Octavia laughed and sat upright as Vinyl cursed in her head at the amount of space between the two. Ponies filed in and out of the auditorium, trying to make quick work of whatever they needed to take care of before the second act started. The soft hum of intermission small talk distracted Vinyl. But when she felt a weight gently push down on her shoulder, she froze in place, immediately snapping back to her own thoughts. Though, her thoughts sounded eerily similar to a TV that has no cable running to it.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Slowly, Vinyl turned her head back towards Octavia, who was using the DJ’s shoulder as a pillow. She tried to relax and keep her heart from making so much noise, but the blood pumping through her veins would not slow down even if it was promised tacos for dinner. Vinyl smiled down at Octavia, who's eyes were directed forward, and slowly inched her head all the way to the left, until her cheek was brushing against Octavia’s sweet smelling mane. After a moment’s hesitation she let her own weight push down on the grey mare’s head. Her face was burning but the intensity lessened when she thought she saw a faint pink streak glowing across Octavia's cheeks.

“Tired?” Vinyl breathlessly whispered.

“Something like that.” Octavia mumbled into Vinyl’s shoulder.

Vinyl just didn’t have any words. Normally she would have a response. Right now she just wanted to savor every second she could. It was the same but different than the last time Octavia's head was on her shoulder. It was the same gorgeous, intelligent, witty, talented, sweet-smelling mare. But this time she was fully conscious of what she was doing. It wasn't a sleepy action this time. It was different. More special.

She’s probably drunk. There’s no way she could lay here forever. But… uh, it wouldn’t hurt her to TRY…

For the next fifty two minutes and thirty seconds, Octavia did indeed try. The two leaned into each other through almost the entire second half, that is, until Vinyl looked away to wipe a stray tear or twenty from her face. As the lights came up, Octavia very slowly raised her head off of Vinyl’s shoulder. She grinned sheepishly.

“So, did you enjoy it?”

Yeah, no, THAT’S not a loaded question Octy. Mares. What’reya gonna do?

“Yeah. I did. Quite a bit, actually.”

Octavia and Vinyl locked eyes for a long moment. Vinyl’s lips curled into a large smile, which was mimicked by Octavia. Without moving, and seemingly, without breathing, Octavia asked what they were both thinking.

“So what now?”

Vinyl paused for a long moment. There were two answers right on the tip of her tongue, hanging carelessly to her mouth. The question, like their entire conversation, was open to interpretation. Vinyl decided to play it safe.

“My place. Drinks. You game?”

Wordlessly Octavia got to her hooves and headed out the door, turning her head only once to smile at Vinyl with an affirmative answer.

When Vinyl was pulled out of her sleep, she refused to open her eyes. The night before was nothing if not magical. Octavia and Vinyl stayed up nearly until sunrise talking and drinking, enjoying each others company. It was the end of the night, however, that was buzzing around in Vinyl’s mind.

”Hey Vinyl… could I perhaps ask a favor?”

“Whassup?”

“Well, your couch is… not the best thing I have ever slept on. My back doesn't exactly feel great when I wake up. I was wondering if perhaps I could… um, take you up on your offer to share your bed?

And if Vinyl opened her ruby eyes and saw her bed empty, her heart would shatter knowing that she had merely dreamed it all. Fortunately for her, a muffled grunt sounded from the left side of her bed. Vinyl smiled a toothy grin and opened her eyes. Octavia’s mane was all over the place. She looked as if she tossed and turned all night. But Vinyl enjoyed the look, it was careless and wild. She enjoyed the look perhaps a bit too much, as she began to get sad at the prospect of Octavia leaving the comfort of the warm bed. However, Vinyl continued to float in the river of The Nile, as she still couldn’t convince herself that Octavia wanted anything more than friendship from her and therefore couldn’t justify wrapping her forelegs around the cellist.

On one hoof, the two slept on opposite sides of the bed all night, only grazing each other twice. On the other hoof…

SHE IS IN YOUR BED YOU DOLT. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT? A FREAKING INVITATION?

Despite Vinyl’s conscience’s advice, she lay frozen against the wall next to her bed. Octavia rolled over and smiled.

“Good Morning Vina.”

“Top ‘o tha mornin’.”

“You’re so goofy.”

“It’s a gift.”

“What time is it?”

“Uh… one. In the afternoon.”

“Shoot. I have to go meet Frederic. I promised him I’d help him pick out a present for his little sister’s birthday. Besides, I shouldn't let ponies be a bad influence on me so I sleep all day.”

“Oh… right… cool.” Vinyl said, with a half hearted smile.

Octavia rolled out of bed. A few long minutes in the bathroom gave Octavia the appearance of a well-rested mare, ready to take on the day., or what was left of it at least. Vinyl just laid in bed the whole time, watching Octavia gather her things. She turned to the blue mane sprawled on the bed smiling, her eyes sparkling.

“So I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Alright. Have a good day, Vinyl.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

Octavia walked out of the bedroom. The house was dead silent. Vinyl listened as the front door slowly opened and quietly latched itself shut. She sighed and rolled over, placing a hoof in the spot that Octavia had been laying. She caught a familiar scent and moved closer to the pillow Octavia used, confirming that she wasn't imagining smelling the cellist's mane.

"Okay, Vinyl, let's do some thinking. One on hoof, she slept on your shoulder twice, took your glasses off and wore them, and seems to be screaming at you that she wants you. On the other hoof... friggen... Frederic. She's clearly in love with this dude. But she's always HERE. And she SLEPT WITH ME last night. I mean, not slept with me but she... why in Celestia's name am I rationalizing this to myself. I was there. I know what happened. UGH! MARES! ... I said to myself as I clutched a pillow that smelled like Octavia in my forehooves. I really do have issues, don't I?"

Vinyl heard the front door quietly open and shut. She made a face and rolled her eyes.

Mornin' Bon Bon! Where's that bi-

"Hey, Vinyl? Are you still awake?"

Vinyl jumped at the sound of Octavia's voice. She flailed around a bit and quickly released the pillow in her hooves, almost jettisoning it across the room. In a flash she dug her elbow into the bed and propped her head on her hoof. She put on her best poker face and tried to play it cool. Octavia raised an eyebrow but the smile on her face said that Vinyl had been caught red-hooved.

"I was wondering... I heard that there is going to be a fantastic meteor shower tonight. What if we went?"

"What? Oh. Cool. Yeah, no, yeah that sounds cool with me."

"… Great. I'll come over after I'm done helping Frederic. Oh, and get some sleep. You look exhausted."

"Yeah, maybe if SOMEPONY didn't keep me up all night and make my pillow smell all funky..."

Octavia smiled. "I can always just sleep on the couch."

"Well, I mean, that... uh, that seems a little drastic. I mean, you DID say the couch didn't make your back feel good."

"I'll see you tonight."

With a smile that Vinyl was convinced had a meaning, Octavia turned and silently left the house. Vinyl let her head forcefully fall from her hoof to the now pillowless bed in defeat. She glared down at the pillow idling laying on the floor.

“That was all your fault.”

Vinyl snatched the pillow off the floor and hugged it closely to her chest, reveling in Octavia's smell. The only thing that Vinyl could hold onto was the hope, the slim hope, that Frederic didn't mean as much to Octavia as he seemed to.

“Please don't be in love with someone else...” Was the last thing that fell out of Vinyl's lips as she drifted back to sleep.

Chapter Thirteen

“Vinyl? Are you awake?”

A muffled, sleepy grunt came from under a dark purple comforter.

“Vinyl? Are you up?”

The comforter groaned again. The longer grunt had anger laced within it's lack of syllables.

“You sound awake.”

“Why ASK me if I'm awake if I look like I'm sleeping still?” Vinyl spat into her pillow. She was unsure if her irritation was at Lyra or her sudden lack of being asleep. She assumed the former.

“Well, you could have had your eyes closed but been awake.”

“Or... or I could have been SLEEPING.” Vinyl sighed and pulled the blankets off of her head. “What do you want, Lyra?”

“Well, I want to talk.”

As Vinyl pushed herself to an upright position, she noticed her mane was matching its electric color with its style. She shook her head and almost perfectly, her mane sunk down in a classic Vinyl 'do. The DJ cast a hard glare towards Lyra but felt the ice melt off of her heart a bit as she took in the sight. A layer of guilt washed over her as she saw a nervous look planted on Lyra's face. Her golden eyes were scared and sad as if she was dreading this conversation, but in a different way than Vinyl. As much as she wanted to hate Lyra, she couldn't fully. At least not while she looked so pathetic. After all, Lyra obviously still cared about Vinyl and wanted to save their friendship. A friendship that Vinyl herself wanted to save, so she thought at least.

“Alright. About what?” Vinyl tried to act like she cared.

“You just seem so off lately. What's going on in your life?”

It was all Vinyl could do to not groan and facehoof. It was WAY too early in the afternoon for this. She locked eyes with Lyra's, but found the mint pony staring past her. All of the anger she had built up was falling to the wayside at a rapid pace. Every bitter feeling she felt was escaping her. She couldn't bring to the surface anything she had wanted to confront Lyra on. Vinyl wasn't accustomed to seeing her ex so vulnerable, it almost hurt her to see. Or maybe that was just her being too tired to care. Or maybe, just maybe, it was easier to be mad at Lyra when she wasn't around. Though, that's sort of the way that Vinyl preferred it nowadays.

“I'm not off, I'm just... preoccupied. You know what's going on in my life. Octy's goin' on in my life. She makes me happy and I like being around her.”

“And why haven't you told me?”

“Don't... just, please, don't. I did tell you. I even let you guys hang out for a bit.”

Lyra ignored the last sentence. “You go out of your way to avoid me.”

“No I don't. I - “

“Yes you do. You only bring her here when Bon Bon and I are at my house. If we're here, you go to her house or that stupid music store.”

Vinyl saw bitterness flash across Lyra's otherwise stone-like face. She could feel the guilt that was consuming her stop cold and give way to the usual anger she felt towards Lyra.

“Now just a second! That's not tru-”

“It's like you don't want me to see you and her together.”

Vinyl's entire face twitched in irritation. She tried to hide her flared nostrils by breathing deeply, but it didn't get rid of the ire that was slowly glowing inside her. She tried her best to keep calm. The guilt that she was feeling before had started to retreat. The hatred within her was starting to break through as she realized something she had refused to truly believe before then. This wasn't the pony that was her best friend for years; this was somepony else entirely.

“I don't TRY to keep her away from you. I just hate how you act around other mares I'm interested in.” Vinyl's voice was rising with every syllable she spoke.

“Wh... What?! What does that mean? What have I ever done?” Lyra's pathetic charade was replaced by a wild glare as she meet Vinyl's eyes for the first time.

“Remember the shopping trip? You were totally uncool to Octavia when we went into town. I don't care if you're rude to me, but to someone you just met? Come on, Lyra.”

“You were ignoring me, Vinyl! I was frustrated because you wouldn't even give me thirty seconds!”

“We were in the middle of a conversation. I'm sorry I didn't drop everything and pay every second of my attention to you for the first time since before we met. Besides just that, every time I so much as mention her, you get that weird murdery twitch in your eyes. When she's around, you act like a total foal, and I swear I saw you try to set her on fire with your mind. You're forgetting that I can read you as well as you can read me.”

“So, what, you think I'm jealous?”

Vinyl felt her last twig of patience snap. “Oh for crying out loud. Yes, alright? I do think you play the jealous ex role pretty well and I personally just don't want to deal with it anymore. You're not fun when you're like this. You're not the Lyra that I met all those years ago and hung out with. You keep saying that I'm different, that I'm acting weird. But it's YOU. I'm just being me. Ever since we broke up -”

“You know I don't like to talk about that.” Lyra said softly, looking away.

“Yeah, I've noticed.” Vinyl growled through clenched teeth. “You never want to talk about it. Have you even told Bon Bon yet?” She wasn't about to fall for her guilt-trip twice in one day.

Lyra was silent for a long moment. “I don't see what that has to do with anything.”

“You know what, it has nothing to do with anything. Forget it. You're good at forgetting stuff like that.”

Vinyl hated herself for the anger that freely controlled her thoughts and actions. But for every second she hated herself, she hated Lyra more. It's not that she wanted Lyra to come crawling back to her with empty apologies and fake 'I love you's; she just wanted some recognition that they had something special once. She wanted the knowledge that she wasn't just some random roadside stop on the train of Lyra's attention-seeking tour. She wanted to feel like she wasn't lied to when they were together. But she was never sure that any of it was real, if anything she said was ever true. Vinyl shook her head. She wasn't sure what it mattered to her anymore. Lyra kept her eyes at the floor, almost looking ashamed.

“Look, I've got to go. I'm sorry you think I'm the worst pony ever. I guess I'll see you later or something.”

Vinyl silently watched as Lyra slowly turned around and walked out of the room. She knew that she was supposed to stop her. She knew that Lyra was fully enforcing the guilt card, and wanted Vinyl to run to her and apologize. She felt the guilt tear at the edges of her heart and lash out at her for not saying a word as the mare that she used to hold so dear walked away. She knew all this, but yet, she couldn't force the empty words and promises of a brighter friendship out of her mouth. Vinyl found the near inaudibility of the front door clicking shut almost metaphoric of a friendship silently slinking away into the night. Or day. Whichever it was. Vinyl wasn't entirely sure.

She laid back down in her bed and stared up at the ceiling of her room. Emotions and thoughts swirled around her head, yet she couldn't grab hold of one thought over another. She was angry, guilty, confused, irritated, but yet liberated. She realized that she had been unnecessarily holding onto Lyra for years, forcing herself to continue loving her because she had no choice. Lyra decided everything, and whether or not the lyrist's tyrannical iron fist on Vinyl's life was intentional or not didn't matter. But finally, Vinyl could get out of bed and not fully care about Lyra and how she felt. About how Lyra would react to what she was doing. Sure, she wanted to keep the peace, but she also had Octavia. The seemingly one pony in the entire world that let her be what she truly was; Vinyl Scratch, the baddest DJ in all of Equestria. The coolest mare anypony knew. The drinker, the social smoker when she was drunk, and the one pony who couldn't get that stupid Marely Cyrus song out of her head.

Vinyl couldn't help but smirk. She pushed herself out of bed and headed to take a shower, knowing that tonight, or at least right now, she was empowered enough to lay it all on the line for Octavia. It was time.

–----

“I need a drink. A lot of them. Now.”

Vinyl scrunched her face as Octavia pushed past her, darting right for the fridge.

“Where's the fire, Octy?”

“I just... I just need a drink.”

Vinyl wedged herself in between the Octavia and the cupboard with the glasses. She raised an eyebrow at the gray earth pony. There was a fire burning in those lavender eyes that Vinyl had never seen before. It was angry but it was hiding... something.

“Spill it.”

“Only if I drink.”

Octavia's voice was as even as it normally was, but there was a hard edge gently lacing each of her words. Vinyl stepped to the side, worry creasing her forehead.

“C'mon Octy. What's up?”

Octavia sighed and poured two shots, handing one to Vinyl. The two glasses clanked and were gone in an instant.

“Well, it started when I went to go see Frederic. We were just going to hang out for a bit and go shopping for that present, maybe get some lunch or something. Then we ran into Beauty Bass... She may have mentioned Frederic's intentions of asking out some mare. Somepony he met that works at his sister's school.”

“I... I'm sorry to hear that.”

All the air got sucked out of Vinyl's lungs. Vinyl felt like somepony just punched her in the chest, broke her equipment, and spit on her mom right in front of her. She looked towards the floor, fully expecting to see the shattered remnants of her heart and soul. Octavia was clearly livid with Beauty Bass and therefore distracted from the less-than-okay pony in front of her.

“It's not just that, though. Beauty Bass wouldn't let it go. It's all she wanted to talk about.”

“Well, does she know?”

“Yes. She is fully aware of my feelings towards Frederic and I'm sure she was just excited for him, but even still. It was just... I don't know. It got to me. And it probably shouldn’t because I know that Frederic is just a thing. He's not interested. I'll never actually be with him. But still.”

Octavia's nostrils flared as they always did when she was upset and ranting. For a split second Vinyl noted how adorable she looked. Then she felt another pang roll through her chest, almost reducing her to frustrated tears. The white unicorn did what she did best, though, and tucked it all away to cry over later.

“Aw man, I'm sorry Octy. That's not cool. But don't be so hard on yourself. You don't know what will happen between you two.”

“No, it's alright Vinyl. I know that I won't actually be with him. I'm not being self-hating, just honest. He's not interested. End of story. But that doesn't excuse Beauty Bass for being a... well, never mind exactly that.”

Vinyl wasn't aware that Octavia could be as livid as she was. There was a thick silence in the room for a minute until Vinyl's mouth betrayed her.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm stuck in a similar situation.”

Wait, what did you just say?

Octavia cocked her head to the side. “Oh?”

Crap.

Vinyl grimaced, not sure how she would get herself out of this one.

“Yeah, well. I know all about the whole... wanting someone that you're pretty sure you'll never be with. It's not fun. I'm sorry Octy.”

Octavia stared at Vinyl, contemplating. “Yeah, well, it's not fun. At least we have each other, right?”

Vinyl and Octavia locked eyes for a long moment, trying to read exactly what the other was thinking. Vinyl sighed and looked away, grabbing the shot glasses. Octavia was clearly in love with Frederic, and there was nothing she could do about it. She stood no chance against him. It's not like Octavia liked mares anyway. Trying to pretend she didn't want to burst into tears, Vinyl poured two more shots and raised her glass.

“Here's to pining.”

“Here, here!” Octavia exclaimed.

“Vinyl, it's coooooooooooooold.”

Ten shots and two drinks later, Vinyl and Octavia were in no condition to do much of anything. Vinyl giggled drunklenly at Octavia, who outright refused to walk on the cold, wet grass. The temperature dipped far below the freezing point, but the warmth of the alcohol made Vinyl brave enough to want to go see the meteor shower yet.

“VINYL. How are we supposed to leave?! My hooves will get all wet and cold and then I'll be so sad.”

Octavia pouted at Vinyl, her lavender eyes opened wide for effect. Vinyl grinned, the slightly more sober of the two and reduced the space between herself and her crush.

“One of these days, that's not going to work on me, you know.” Vinyl said as she hoisted Octavia onto her back, reveling in the extreme closeness of the two.

“I'll believe that when you prove it.” Octavia said, smugly.

“You can always walk on the grass yourself.”

“Noooo! It's cold.”

Octavia straddled Vinyl's back and drunkenly leaned forward, wrapping her forehooves around Vinyl's neck and resting her chin on the top of Vinyl's wild blue mane. The DJ loved the closeness, she loved the touching and the way it felt so natural for the two to be so close. Her heart was jittery from the alcohol. She knew that she was still a bit too drunk to be safely out in public, but she didn't really care. The bitter cold night sobered her up fairly well, even if it didn't have quite the same effect on her drunken rider.

So, she's in love with Frederic. So much so that she got all schnookered up because he was going to ask another mare out, yet here she is on MY back, whispering drunken comments into MY ear and going to watch a meteor shower with ME...

WHAT.

“So where we going to see the show?”

“Hmm, I'm not sure yet. I'm pretty much just going towards the darkest part of town I know so we don't have to deal with any stray lights.”

“Dark is good. Warm is good. Where are the blankets?”

“They're in the bag that's under you. Don't worry, I remembered. You know... It's pretty cold. I might have to cuddle rape you to stay warm.”

Vinyl could feel the extra pressure from the chin on the top of her head, presumably from the large grin that just stretched across Octavia's face. Vinyl felt her face heat up, damning the alcohol for making her so bold. She wondered just how many times her mouth was going to betray her before she shut it up with more alcohol. Or tacos.

“Body heat and all that...” Vinyl muttered. “Ah, yes, here we are.” She added quickly, changing the subject.

Vinyl walked down a dark, seemingly neglected country path. There were hills every which way she turned, making it a good place to find a vantage point. She settled near an old building for a bit of cover. Octavia reluctantly got off of Vinyl's back so she could set up the blanket to protect them from the cold grass. Octavia sat on the blanket and looked up at Vinyl, who's face was still matching her eyes in color. Octavia rested her head on her own shoulder, making Vinyl wonder if she was going to melt from being so adorable.

“Well? I'm not going to stay warm on my own, you know.”

“Huh? Oh! Yes. Right then.”

Vinyl laid down on her back, stretching one forehoof awkwardly across Octavia's shoulders. Her position was a little uncomfortable, but there was no way she was going to give it up for anything in the entire world. The silence between them took over, letting Vinyl escape into her thoughts. She wondered if she was really going to go through with it and tell Octavia how she felt. It was a rather brash decision on her part. It wasn't like she stood a chance at all, or that Octavia even cared.

“So who's this mare?”

Vinyl's blood ran cold.

“Huh buh guh wha?”

“Tell me more about her. You've only just mentioned her. Is she the one you're thinking about when you get that faraway look in your eyes? Or, rather, that faraway look in your glasses. ...Is it Lyra?” Octavia kept her eyes on the sky.

“No, Celestia no it's not Lyra. We actually got in a fight today.”

“Oh! There's a meteor!” Octavia said, thrusting a hoof towards the sky. “About what?”

“She was just being all... her. I don't know. She tried to guilt me into feeling bad about how our friendship is dying and about how I never bring you around and I'm shutting her out and whatnot. I got angry. It was kind of ridiculous. All before I could properly wake up too!”

Octavia laughed. “So I'm the problem again, am I?”

“Yeah, I don't know. I just don't know about her. She gets all jealous like she wants something from me, but then whenever I mention that we dated for like, two years or whatever, she pretends it didn't happen. I'm pretty sure it's so repressed that not even Bon Bon knows. Not like I care a whole lot anymore. I used to. But... you know, I'm just kind of over it.”

“Good. Lyra hasn't exactly proven to me that she's worth your friendship. Besides, you've got this new mare, right?”

Damnit!

“Heh, takes more than that to derail you, huh?”

“Yes. Now what is she like? I want to know before you end up with another Lyra.”

Octavia turned to look at Vinyl, her eyes laced with curiosity. Vinyl wondered why exactly she cared so much.

“Well... she's really smart and she's funny. And she's feisty and witty. But she's not mean, she's just... I don't know, fun. And she's absolutely gorgeous. The most stunning mare I've ever seen. She's the kind of mare I just want to be around, you know? She makes me happy... She lets me be me. Not to mention her eyes. They're amazing.”

Vinyl's face was as hot as the sun. It was weird telling Octavia what she liked about her, without actually telling Octavia what she liked about her. Octy's eyes narrowed for a second but a small smile crossed her lips. She refocused her attention on the stars above.

“Well that's good.”

Silence fell over the two again. Vinyl's heart was beating in her throat. Was she really going to go through with this? Could she really face the rejection of this pony? The mare that's allowed her to feel feelings again after being apathetic to life for so long?

Do it... do it... do it... do it...

Her stomach turned a bit from her nerves but she felt oddly calm at the same time. She couldn't quite explain it, but she knew that it was now or never. Another meteor shot across the sky, this time both ponies pointing it out. They looked at each other and smiled. Vinyl's heart was beating as if she had just finished running a marathon. She held Octavia's gaze for what seemed like eternity. She had such a hard time reading Octavia in that moment. There was something behind her eyes that she couldn't quite get at. She seemed content, more so than the situation immediately called for. There was a smirk permanently plastered on her face, one that Vinyl couldn't make heads or tails of. Was she happy that she was star gazing or was there something else? Octavia's body language gave nothing away. She laid peacefully over Vinyl's arm neither moving towards or away from the unicorn.

She could have screamed. Vinyl just wanted a clue, just one tiny clue as to what she was really thinking. Could there really be something more between them? Was Octavia's almost amused tone, one that was so angry over Frederic earlier, a sign that she herself had hidden feelings? Was there another reason that Octavia stayed at Vinyl's every night, in her bed? Vinyl tried to suffocate her thoughts; she knew that there was nothing between them. At least, that's what she forced herself to know. When Octavia turned her head back to the sky, breaking her gaze into the DJ's eyes, Vinyl drew a deep breath and jumped in hooves first.

“You know her.” She barely whispered.

“Do I now?”

“Y-yes. Yes you do.”

“Hmm.”

Octavia's eyes briefly flickered to Vinyl's face before flashing back towards the sky. A light bulb went off in Vinyl's mind. Everything suddenly made sense. The concert, the change of plans, the resting of her head on Vinyl's shoulder and the sharing the bed... It was all coming together more clearly than Vinyl could have ever imagined.

“I have a question.”

“Anything, Vinyl.” Octavia said with a careful smile.

“Well, it's not a question but... I think that you... you know more than I thought you knew and I think right now you know exactly what I’m trying to get you to know. You know?”

Octavia laughed. “I know nothing.”

That was all the proof she needed. Octavia knew how Vinyl felt.

“Yes huh! I know you know!”

“I know nothing. I would never assume that I know anything.”

I've never met a mare that made me love her despite being so OH MY CELESTIA WHAT DID I JUST SAY I DON'T LOVE HER SHE'S JUST A CRUSH.

Again, the two remained silent, watching the meteor shower slowly push on in the black canopy above them. The moon was nowhere to be seen, just brilliant stars and meteors. Vinyl couldn't figure out why Octavia was playing innocent when she clearly knew exactly what was going on. Still, the gray pony remained nearly impossible to read. Her eyes gave away that she probably knew the truth, but there was still... something. Vinyl wasn't sure what it was, but she needed desperately to find out.

“When are you going to admit that you know?” Vinyl asked, seriously.

“Know what? I don't assume things.” Octavia's face stretched into a brilliant smile.

“ARG! Octy...”

“Yes Vina?”

“You... I just.. whajit... mares.”

“And you are one of them.”

“Can't prove that.”

“Oh? So you're a stallion?”

“Oh hush you.” Vinyl was almost enjoying being frustrated.

Octavia giggled as Vinyl's nerves lurched up into her esophagus. She knew Octavia knew, especially now that she seemed to be toying with her a bit. There was no possible way that she didn't know. The knowledge made it a little easier to just admit the truth. Which was good for Vinyl, because her mouth was about to betray her again.

“... You. It's you.”

“What's me?” Octavia questioned through her smile.

“You are so frustrating.”

“You love it.”

“OctaviaIthinkIlikeyou.” Vinyl blurted out.

Octavia was silent for a long time, staring up at the stars. The smile was gone from her face and she seemed to be focusing quite intently on the stars above. She didn't look angry or upset and she still hadn't moved an inch one way or another. Even though Vinyl knew that Octavia had known, her stomach still continued to turn in the eons that it seemed to take Octavia to respond. Her statuesque face made it impossible for Vinyl to expect anything but the worst possible outcome.

“Was that so hard?” Octavia whispered.

“You knew, didn't you?”

“I had a hunch, but I didn't want to just assume that since you liked other mares that you liked me. That's just ignorant. Besides, you're in love with Lyra.”

“Is that what you told yourself?”

“Yeah. Well, that and you told me. I figured you loved Lyra and it's silly of me to think that you'd like me.”

“Well... I do.”

Now that it was out in the open, it was incredibly easy to talk about. Vinyl's face no longer felt like she was going to get a sunburn from the sheer amount of heat radiating from it. She just wished her arm would stop falling asleep so she could keep it tucked nicely under Octavia's head. Defeated, she pulled it down and cuddled in closer to Octavia, after turning on her side. Octavia turned her head towards Vinyl.

“This meteor shower is less meteor and more stars.”

“Still, though, I do enjoy star gazing.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“... Vinyl?”

“Yeah Octy?”

Octavia kept her eyes trained on her hoofs, which were picking at each other. She seemed unsure of herself, yet she didn't seem uncomfortable. She took a second to gather her words.

“I don't know what any of this means, but I do know that I don't want to hurt you. You've become pretty important to me. That's the last thing I'd ever want to do.”

Vinyl couldn't help but smile. “It's alright. I know my place in your life and I'm pretty content with it. I just don't want things to change.”

Octavia looked Vinyl in the eyes again. Vinyl wasn't sure why she was so happy. Maybe it was that she finally told Octavia mostly how she felt. Maybe it was that Octavia seemed to respond as warmly as she possibly could have. Or maybe it was whatever Octavia had hidden deep within her mind that Vinyl was holding onto. Maybe whatever Octavia was hiding was where Vinyl was getting her hope from.

Or... I'm kinda one of those... likes pain people. Except I do it to myself. And it's emotional. Oh well! I still won!

“They won't, Vinyl, they won't. I can't promise you much, and to be completely honest, my head is spinning right now. Maybe from the alcohol, maybe from the cold... maybe from you. I'm not sure. But I do know that no matter what, we're friends until the end.”

“I can live with that. Now let's go home, I'm freezing.”

“Here, here.”

Octavia and Vinyl packed their blankets up and walked home, side by side. Vinyl still wasn't sure why, but she was almost as happy as she would have been if Octavia would have professed her undying and totally not made up feelings for the DJ. Vinyl noted, as they walked towards the big blue house, how Octavia's body seemed to lean ever so slightly her way. They smiled at each other, almost sheepishly. Vinyl looked up and thanked the stars for a night that would stay fresh in her mind for a long time.

Chapter Fourteen

Note: There are THEMES in this one, so be a bit careful with it! (Nothing graphic.)

Vinyl felt herself stir from her deep, happy sleep. Her eyes were about to creek open before she slammed a forehoof over the top of them to prevent it.

Alright Vinyl. Two things could happen when you open your eyes. Either A, you’re going to wake up in your bed and realize that everything you thought happened was just a dream and you’re a crazy pony for even thinking you were brave enough to say anything to Octy… or letter two, Octavia is laying next to you after you told her you liked her, giving you a false sense of accomplishment in your bravery and an even falserer sense of her maybe sort of possibly liking you back, even though you know damn well she’s in love with Frederic. Are you willing to take that chance?

Vinyl laid completely still for a moment, turning her options over in her mind. If Octavia was in her bed, that meant that everything she thought had happened, had indeed happened. But on the other hand, if Octavia wasn’t there, she either had no chance of ever being with the beautiful grey mare, or she had the most realistic dream in her life. She wondered how she would feel either way, doing her best to convince herself that she and Octavia were just friends and nothing more. It was easier to set herself up that way that face the crushing rejection she was surely about to face. Her thoughts got abruptly interrupted, though, when she felt another body move to her left. A large smile plastered itself on her face as she cautiously opened her eyes.

Sun eagerly poked through a thin purple blanket Vinyl hung over her window, casting daylight on the still-sleeping face of Octavia. Vinyl watched her for a long moment, her muscles pushing determinedly against her will to place a forehoof over the sleeping mare. The DJ wanted so desperately to hold her, to cuddle next to her, even to just play with her mane... anything to get closer to Octavia. She conceded just a bit and rolled to her side, mirroring Octavia’s sleeping position, coming face to face with her bed buddy. Vinyl brought her own forehoof up and let it rest within mere inches of Octavia’s own. She stopped herself short of making contact and distracted herself with the rays of sun dancing across Octavia’s face. She could have laid there for hours, just watching light slowly caress every inch of gray fur.

Yeah, wow, no. C’mon Vinyl. Quit with the sappy crap. She’s in love with Frederic. Why am I letting myself get so close to her then?... Probably because I’m a masochist.

Octavia’s eyelids fluttered open, her first view of the morning being an incredibly enamored Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl worried, and simultaneously cursed at herself for getting so close, about how Octavia would respond to such an… overwhelming good morning. A corner of Octavia’s mouth lifted into a sleepy smirk, reassuring Vinyl that she wasn’t some weirdo stalker from some terrible book-to-movie series.

“Well hi.” Octavia’s voice was still gravely with sleep.

“Mornin’ m’lady.”

Vinyl and Octavia stared at each other for a long moment, neither mare’s eyes flickering even the slightest of an inch. The silence that passed between them wasn’t awkward but it did give Vinyl’s mind time to race through the facts of her friendship with Octavia. As much as she tried, it was becoming increasingly harder to not be at least somewhat optimistic about the chance of a relationship. It was a constant battle in her head. She refused to believe it because, after all, Octavia was in love with Frederic. Aside from that was the idea that Octavia didn’t like mares in the first place. Vinyl didn’t want her inevitable rejection to hurt more than it had to. In her mind, the only way to do that was to absolutely refuse any evidence that Octavia cared for her more than she would any other friend. That she slept next to. And cuddled with on occasion under the stars. And sat extremely close to. Any other friend she would do all that with.

… Right. Not helping.

“Are you still coming to the concert tonight?”

“Huh? What concert?” Vinyl completely lost her train of thought.

Octavia showed no signs of irritation. “Frederic’s sister? Orchestra?”

“Oh. Uh. Yeah, sure.” Vinyl deflated at the mere mention of Frederic’s name.

“I mean… if you don’t want to go, that’s alright.” Octavia said with a hint of dejection in her voice.

“Wait, what, no! I, no yeah, I want to go. I just figured you’d be sick of me by this point. I mean, you do practically live here.” Vinyl playfully nudged Octavia with her forehoof and smiled.

“Are you sure you want to come?”

“Absolultely.” Vinyl lied.

Octavia beamed. “Good. I should probably go, though. You know, the shop and all that.”

“Right, yeah, sure. I’ll meet you at your place at seven?”

“Perfect.”

Vinyl watched as Octavia slowly pushed herself out of bed and stretched. On one hoof, she was a bit sad that the warmth and closeness of Octavia was leaving. She liked and cherished every second she got to spend next to the gray mare. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Octy humored Vinyl by letting her get so close. On the other hoof… well, watching Octavia stretch wasn’t a bad view to start off the morning with. Octavia turned her head over her shoulder and smiled as a light pink blush rose in Vinyl’s guilty cheeks.

“Oh, and Vinyl?” Octavia stopped in the doorway.

“Yeah Octy?”

“I’m definitely not sick of you.”

Vinyl opened her mouth to respond, but found it fruitless. Octavia trotted out the door and down the hallway leaving Vinyl to try to find her words by herself. There was a rather large part of her that was getting giddy, a part in which she tried to control with overwhelming pessimism. Another part of her was still trying to come up with a response. Finally the two parts collided, leaving Vinyl laying in bed, doing the cabbage patch, and unable to contain herself from yelling in excitement.

Vinyl trotted down now familiar roads, glancing up at the jet black sky embracing the stars. The dark majesty of the night always calmed Vinyl, even if she wasn’t feeling nervous. She heaved a sigh and saw her breath form a cloud over her head as she looked skyward again.

If I’m so comfortable with Octavia loving Frederic and not me… then why am I so nervous? Why does this BOTHER me?

Vinyl hated the idea of meeting Frederic. She didn’t want to meet Frederic, she didn’t want to go to this stupid concert with stupid instruments that she didn’t care about, and she surely didn’t want to watch Octavia gawk over Frederic’s stupid face. Before Vinyl had the time to curse at her mind’s version of Frederic, she rounded the corner and saw Octavia staring out of her front window. Octy’s face lit up when she spotted Vinyl, and she promptly trotted away, presumably towards her front door. All of Vinyl’s insecurities washed away when she saw her favorite set of purple eyes eagerly waiting her arrival. Vinyl quickened her pace and got to the front door as soon as it swung open. Vinyl noticed the lavender colored sweater that Octavia donned and almost had to bite her lip to keep back comments.

Holy hot nerdy look, Coltman.

“Hello Vina. On time as usual.”

“Heh, yeah. You look… really nice tonight. Brings out your eyes.” Vinyl mumbled.

A small blush played over Octavia’s cheeks. “Thank you. Shall we?”

The two quickly reached the concert hall, with each step causing Vinyl’s heart to quicken its pace and her stomach to turn harder. From the outside, the building looked to be nothing more than dull brown brick, worn with age. Small pillars lined the side, holding up an overhang. As they approached the door, they saw that almost an entire half of the building’s brick was replaced with crystal clear glass, allowing them to see all the ponies meandering inside. A doorman held the door open, greeting all of the ponies and handing out programs as they fell in line and filed into the building. The concert hall nearly took Vinyl’s breath away.

It was a huge room coated in gold colored fabric. More pillars lined the walls for décor, circling around all of the rows and weaving in between the balconies above. Even the ceiling was one of the finest that Vinyl had ever seen. It was a mixture of carefully constructed colors swirling together, creating a chaotic rainbow of sorts, meeting in the exact center. The stage was huge. No less than thirty chairs curled around its perimeter, with a majestic looking red velvet curtain hanging in the backdrop. Octavia stopped nearly as soon as they entered the room, scanning the crowds.

“Hello Octavia!”

Vinyl’s heart stopped and she had to physically contain herself from raising her upper lip in a deep growl. She turned to see Octavia trotting up to a tan colored pony with a white mane and pale green eyes. Frederic. Vinyl begrudgingly slumped towards the two of them.

“Hello Mr. Horseshoepin. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m great. And yourself?”

“Couldn’t be better. Frederic, this is Vinyl. Vinyl, Frederic.”

Vinyl did her best to smile, but figured she looked more like she had rabies.

“Hi. Nice to finally meet you.” She choked out through clinched teeth.

“Likewise.”

Octavia and Frederic continued their conversation as Vinyl dejectedly and bitterly scanned the room.

He’s not so freaking impressive. He’s all plain colored and crap. Probably took the tie idea from Octy. Figured he’d be all… I don’t know. I think he’s gay though. Yep. Definitely gay. Definitely doesn’t want to date Octy. MY Octy. Back off dude. Don’t give me that stupid smile. I’ll make you go home crying. Stupid colt.

“Vinyl?”

Vinyl snapped her head around when she heard her favorite, honey-sweet voice calling her name. Octavia smiled but cocked an eyebrow and begun to lead Vinyl and Frederic to their seats.

“Seat preference, Frederic?”

“No, any place will do.”

“Probably some place in the middle of the row, eh Octy?” Vinyl chirped, trying to exercise how much she knew about Octavia.

Octavia smiled and continued to lead the two. They made it to the second tier when Vinyl noticed that she, not Octavia, was walking in the middle. She wondered if Octavia was going to pause and wait for Frederic, so she could sit next to him.

Octavia cast a glance back and trotted into her row of choice, gently lowering herself to a seat. Vinyl and Frederic followed suit, with Vinyl sitting in the middle. It was only a second before she couldn’t restrain her tongue anymore. She leaned towards Octavia to whisper, out of Frederic’s ear shot, and felt a pang shoot through her heart when Octavia leaned back into her.

“I figured you’d sit in the middle.” Vinyl whispered after she regained her thoughts.

“I am in the middle.” Octavia said, her eyes straight forward.

“No, I meant in the middle of US.”

“Oh, well, you know.”

Vinyl lowered her eyebrows. “Octy, that doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Makes perfect sense.”

“It does not! It makes no sense.”

“You two can make friends.”

Vinyl felt her eye twitch and could have sworn she saw the corner of Octavia’s lip curl into a smirk. Before she could comment, Octavia shoved her muzzle in her program.

“Hmm. Show should be starting soon.”

Sure enough, the orchestra took the stage to an applause from the audience, though Vinyl didn’t see why walking onto a stage warranted an ovation. The ponies in the crowd sat back down and listened as the orchestra began to play their instruments. But Vinyl didn’t care. At all. She was too busy wasting her time trying to figure out why Octavia was sitting next to her and not Frederic. It didn’t make much sense.

“Hey Octy,” Vinyl whispered, “That tuba sounds like a frog.”

“Vinyl!” Octavia laughed and swatted Vinyl on the arm.

Vinyl thought she saw Frederic give her a dirty look, so she focused her attention on trying to make sure she didn’t junk punch him. She leaned her head back on the chair and stared up at the ceiling, trying to follow any rhyme or reason from one color of line to the next. As soon as she figured out the pattern of the color blending, she felt her right shoulder get heavier. A lot heavier. Vinyl felt the soft caress of a jet blank mane on her cheek.

“Gettin’ bored?” Vinyl barely whispered through her shock.

“I’m a little *yawn* sleepy for some reason.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

Octavia giggled softly but didn’t move her head off of Vinyl’s shoulder.

“Betcha wish you were sittin’ by Freddy now, eh?” Vinyl braced herself.

“Mmm.” Was all Octavia offered in response.

Vinyl used all of her willpower to try to keep her mind away from Octavia’s true feelings. Maybe, just… just maybe there was something more to Octavia’s actions than Vinyl thought. Maybe she did have a chance. The facts were cold and hard. She was sitting next to Vinyl, not Frederic. She was laying her head on Vinyl’s shoulder… again. In public. She was sleeping in Vinyl’s bed every night.

But she’s in love with Frederic!

Vinyl was not one to be easily swayed by silly things like logic. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the concert was finally over. Octavia slowly lifted her head and got to her feet as the entire hall burst into applause. Again, Vinyl wasn’t sure why. It was the most boring hour of her life in the last week. The crowd began to clear out, leaving Frederic, Vinyl, and Octavia as some of the last ponies in the hall.

“Octavia, are you coming to Beauty Brass’s apartment for movie night tonight?”

“Uh… probably not tonight. Sorry.”

Frederic looked between Octavia and Vinyl and nodded slowly.

“Alright then. Have a good night, ladies.”

Vinyl turned to Octavia who silently shrugged and walked out of the concert hall. As they walked out into the cool air, light drizzle coated their faces.

“So… why aren’t you going to hang out with them?”

“Oh, you know.”

“You keep saying that.” Vinyl furrowed her brows.

A small smile appeared on Octavia’s face. “I do, don’t I?”

“It’s irritating.”

“Ah. That’s unfortunate. Well then. What shall we do tonight, Vinyl?”

“I…” Vinyl couldn’t understand what was going on, but she knew the easiest way to find out. “Drinks?”

Octavia smiled. “That sounds marvelous.”

“So, Octy, whaddya think?”

Vinyl watched Octavia’s unsure face, eager for a reaction.

“I haven’t done this in a long time.”

“Oh, come on now, you like it.”

“Well… that doesn’t mean you’re not an evil temptress for making me do it.” Octavia laughed.

“And you’re a smarmasour, so what?” Vinyl said with a smile.

“A who’s a what?”

“A smarmasour. A pony that smarms. You’re smarmy.”

“You’re the temptress here! What have I done?”

“What haven’t you done?” Vinyl was smug now.

“You are… something else, ma’am.” Octavia stated with a roll of the eyes.

“Perhaps. But I like a good smoke when I drink. Sometimes. I think most of me likes it because Lyra never let me do it. I’d go and DJ, come home smelling like smoke, and she’s throw a fit.”

“Ah, yes. Well, I was a rebellious young filly so…”

Vinyl burst out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

“And what, pray tell, is so funny Miss Scratch?”

“You… rebel… sides hurt… ow!”

“I’ll give you something to laugh at, you hooligan!”

Octavia dove across Vinyl’s back porch and tackled the white unicorn, ambushing her with tickles. Before Octavia could get her locked down, though, Vinyl scrambled to her feet and rushed inside the house, leaving the door open just a crack.

“No! No! You don’t get to come in until you promise to be good, smarmasour!”

“Well, I COULD just go home…”

“… And that’s why you’re a smarmasour.”

Vinyl opened the door, playfully glaring at a very smug Octavia who jabbed a hoof in Vinyl’s side. Vinyl jumped and whined, getting only a laugh in response. The two made their way into the living room, Octavia taking her usual place in her favorite big chair. Vinyl scanned her movies for something to do.

“Hey… what if we watched The Pony King? I haven’t seen that one in a really long time.”

“Sounds good to me. As long as there is more booze involved I am down for anything.”

“Aw, you’re not going to sit next to me?” Vinyl said, eyeing the couch.

“That couch is the devil. Besides, this chair is much more comfortable and has a blanket.”

“So… what if I wanted to sit on the chair?”

“Then sit on the chair.”

“But… you’re… OH!” A lightbulb flickered on above Vinyl’s head.

Vinyl tried to look nonchalant as she stumbled over herself, rushing to the chair. Octavia created some room for Vinyl and threw the blanket over their bodies. Vinyl found legitimate discomfort with how cramped her left forehoof was and raised it over her head, holding the back of the chair as she reclined it. The movie began, both mares excited to watch one of their favorite filly-hood movies.

“Hey, uh, Octy?”

“Yes?”

“My arm’s falling asleep and it’s uncomfortable sitting at my side… do you think I could…?”

Both mares blushed as Vinyl stammered out her question. “Oh, yeah, sure Vinyl. Go ahead.”

Vinyl rested her forehoof across Octavia’s shoulders. Neither pony said anything, instead focusing to watch the movie. Halfway through, Vinyl found herself mindlessly playing with the bottom of Octavia’s sweater. She circled her hoof around Octavia’s side, enjoying the softness of the material. Vinyl realized what she was doing and paused for a second. Octavia looked up but quickly refocused her eyes on the singing characters on the screen when she found Vinyl’s red eyes staring over at her.

“Does that tickle?” Vinyl asked, hopeful that she would finally have a counter-attack.

“Uh... no.” Octavia smiled but there was something off about it.

Vinyl wasn’t exactly sure what it was that made her so bold just then, perhaps the alcohol albeit there wasn’t a lot of if consumed, but she mindfully resumed playing with Octavia’s sweater. Only this time, she took care to press into Octavia’s side a little harder. Octavia flashed her eyes towards Vinyl, but said nothing. Vinyl’s heart was racing as she heard a small jagged edge to Octavia’s breathing, which had also quickened ever-so-slightly in pace.

I… is she? Is this? I don’t… Just shut up. If there’s one thing you should have learned over the last month, it’s just go with it.

Vinyl continued to run the edge of her hoof around in circles on Octy’s side. After finishing off the bottle of beer she was working on, Vinyl got more bold. She slowly pushed up the sweater and grazed Octavia’s fur with her hoof. Octavia jumped, her breath quickening just a bit more. Vinyl was tempted to delve deeper, to test her bounds, until the sound of keys outside the front door caused the two to quickly jump apart from each other. It was just as well, though, the movie had ended long ago.

Bon Bon silently strolled into the house and went directly into her room. Vinyl rolled her eyes, knowing that her silent treatment was Lyra’s doing. Casting those thoughts aside, Vinyl cast a timid look back at Octavia, whose face was still a light shade of pink.

“Well… I need a smoke. And another drink.” Vinyl commented.

“Sounds like a plan.”

The two got to the porch and silently lit up. Vinyl watched as the smoke spiraled into the air, chasing itself.

“That was some movie, huh?”

Vinyl jumped and then promptly blushed. “Heh… yeah. Better than I remember it being.”

“Me too…” Octavia’s voice trailed off.

“That didn’t tickle, huh?”

Vinyl almost facehoofed. She really needed to stop saying things before her brain had the proper amount of time to yell at her for even thinking about. Even so, Vinyl noticed the smile play on Octavia’s lips. Considering how… intimate… the two had just been, and how convinced Vinyl was of her inevitable rejection, everything was free and easy. It wasn’t awkward in the slightest. Vinyl appreciated this.

“No. It didn’t tickle.”

“But you liked it.”

Oh my fu… Are you KIDDING ME Vinyl? REALLY?

Octavia chuckled, her face turning a deeper shade of pink for what had to be the fortieth time that night.

“Yeah, I… I guess I did.”

Vinyl and Octavia looked either other in the eyes for a long moment, nothing but smoke swirling gently between them. Vinyl’s face cracked into a smile, with Octavia’s following suit.

“So… do you want to watch another movie?”

“Yes! I mean, yeah. Sure. That’s cool. I don’t care.”

Vinyl smiled, for once not being the nervous one. The two headed inside and threw on Finding Filly and returned to their places in the chair. Again, Vinyl found her forehoof around Octavia’s shoulders. She thought that Octavia was pressing up against her more than she was in the first movie, but Vinyl just shrugged it off. As if it was another sign from the princesses themselves, Bon Bon left the house as quietly as she had come. Vinyl smiled to herself, knowing that the house was all theirs. Mere minutes into the movie, Vinyl picked up where she had left off, tracing light circles around Octavia’s bare fur. Octavia leaned more into her as her forehoof slid down around her back.

Octavia’s breath continued to get heavier and more jagged as Vinyl pressed her hoof deeper into Octavia. She spread out her area more, watching as Octavia reveled in the touch. Vinyl was starting to get nervous. She was quickly coming to terms with the idea that Octavia might have feelings for her after all. Not only that, but there would have to be a kiss in there somewhere. As excited as this prospect made her, it also terrified her. There was something about Octavia that blasted away every ounce of self-confidence that she had, but at the same time, accentuated every good quality she had as well.

Neither pony was watching the movie anymore. Octavia’s eyes were glued shut as Vinyl gently caressed as much of her body as she could. Vinyl refused to look anywhere else but Octavia. Even if the house were to have started on fire, there was no way Vinyl could have broken her focus on Octy. Octavia’s full attention was on Vinyl’s touch. Vinyl had to admit that seeing Octavia so worked up got her a bit riled up as well. It was a weird, surreal feeling. Vinyl got an idea in her head and for once, didn’t second guess herself.

“Hey Octy.” Vinyl whispered.

“Mm?” Octavia grunted.

“Let’s go to bed.”

Wordlessly, but with a nervous smile, Octavia opened her eyes and got up from the chair. Vinyl’s entire body was shaking out of nerves and excitement. The two silently made their way to Vinyl’s room, laying down in bed. Vinyl wrapped her forehooves around Octavia and pulled her close. She could feel Octavia’s still jagged breath on her chest as she ran a hoof down her side. Vinyl could feel the heat emanating from Octavia’s body. It was now or never. Still completely shaken with nerves, despite the amount of work she was doing with her hooves, Vinyl nuzzled Octavia and finally, albeit briefly, felt their lips graze each other for the first time. Vinyl felt fireworks go off in her chest. Unsatisfied, and growing steadily greedier, Vinyl moved in for another, deeper kiss. She could almost feel the room light up from the passion flowing between the two. Vinyl had had a lot of first kisses in her day, but none were at such an unorthodox time. None of them made Vinyl see stars the way Octy’s did. None of them meant as much to Vinyl as that one did. And surely, no other kiss could have, so perfectly, segued into the rest of their heated night.

Chapter Fifteen

“Well, you look happy this morning.”

There was a long pause in Vinyl’s kitchen, wherein Vinyl was doing anything but listening to Lyra. The mint unicorn’s irritation showed.

“Vinyl… Vinyl.”

“Huh? Oh, hi Lyra. Didn’t see you there.”

Vinyl’s eyes furrowed. She didn’t want to be broken from her reverie, especially if it was only to say hello to Lyra. Lyra scowled and stepped close to her white counterpart, trying to keep her attention.

“Why do you look so chipper this morning? Mornings aren’t really your thing, you know.”

It took all of Vinyl’s self-control to not roll her eyes. She always got really sick of Lyra telling her about herself like she didn’t know. Her irritation washed away quickly, though, as she remembered why exactly she was in a good mood on such a chilly, grey autumn day.

“Just in a good mood, is that okay?” Irritation laced Vinyl’s words in spite of the imploding levels of happiness she felt inside.

“Well yeah. I mean, I’m not telling you you can’t be happy. I’m just asking why.” Lyra was growing weary.

“Well, I’m just in a good mood. ‘Cause I want to be.”

Lyra cocked an eyebrow and opened her mouth to push farther but, fortunately for Vinyl, Bon Bon entered the room. Vinyl took the opportunity to change the subject while the door was wide open.

“You guys doin’ stuff today?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna go have dinner with my parents.” Bon Bon chirped.

Vinyl nodded and looked up at the wall clock. She neither knew Bon Bon’s parents nor cared to talk to either of them. She had a good mood to protect after all.

“Well, have a good day kids. I gotta go to… place.”

Vinyl trotted past Lyra, smiling to herself at her ingenuity and definitely not vague and awkward exit.

“So things with Octavia are going well, then?”

Vinyl had just pulled the door open, thinking she was home free. Venom laced Lyra’s words, though the tone in her voice was nothing but sickly sweet. Vinyl flared her nostrils. She didn’t know why she let Lyra bother her so much. Maybe after years of giving up everything and everypony to be close to her, she was sick of answering her questions. She was sick of answering to her at all. Vinyl plastered a fake smile on her face and turned around.

“Yep. Things are going great.”

Vinyl could tell her answer was not what Lyra wanted. They locked eyes for a moment, Bon Bon standing awkwardly in the corner, examining the floor.

“Are they really going great, or are you just saying that?”

Vinyl sighed and rolled her eyes. “Everything is great, Lyra, no need to worry.”

Vinyl turned to walk out the door but found, as always, she wasn’t allowed to have the last word.

“I just hope she’s not leading you on. You’re very fragile.”

Vinyl felt a growl escape from her throat. She dared not turn around, lest she bare her teeth and lunge for the green one.

“Everything is great, Lyra. Thanks.” Vinyl spat through clenched teeth before storming out the door.

Stupid Lyra always getting in my stupid way. Why can’t she just leave me alone and let me be happy?

“Vinyl, wait.”

Despite herself, Vinyl’s muscles stopped in their tracks. She didn’t want to talk to Lyra anymore. What started out as a magnificent day had turned incredibly frustrating.

“Why are you so angry? What did I do? I thought we were friends.”

Here we go.<

“Look, Lyra, I’m just… very irritable lately. Don’t worry about it.”

“Obviously. But what did I DO? All I did was ask why you were happy this morning, and once again you ended up storming out of the house. What’s going on?”

Vinyl looked into Lyra’s eyes and felt her lip curl into a growl. And then, suddenly, a familiar sense of guilt washed over her. She locked her jaw and stared past her ex.

“Now isn’t the time.” Vinyl whispered.

“Then when is, Vinyl? It’s never the time with you. We need to talk. Why not now?” Lyra was nearing hysterics.

“Because we’re in public and you’re making a scene. The issue isn’t as black and white as you always think it is. There’s a lot of stuff going on with me right now and I really don’t need you breathing down my neck all the time.”

Vinyl felt the guilt start to suffocate her when Lyra’s angry expression turned immediately stoic. Vinyl thought she saw tears well in Lyra’s eyes but the lyrist shifted her gaze to the dirt below her hooves before the DJ could get a good look.

“Look… Lyra. I’m sorry. I just… not now. Soon. But not now.” Vinyl’s had finally taken the edge out of her voice.

“Do you promise?” Lyra whispered.

“I… fine. Yes. I promise.”

As Lyra turned and trotted back towards the big blue house, Vinyl had the insatiable urge to kick a hole through a wall. She was livid and guilty and the sudden throbbing in her head wasn’t helping.

For a long moment, Vinyl stood outside of her favorite music shop. From the window she could only see a jet black mane, hanging delicately over the back of a chair. There was no majestic music flowing from a cello, only Equestria’s most beautiful pony sitting and doodling on a piece of paper.

Just like she always did, being near Octavia washed away all of the irritations Vinyl faced in the morning. She could see her favorite eyes staring back at her, the dull cast of the early morning sunshine gently caressing her grey fur. Vinyl smiled to herself and quietly nudged the door open. Octavia didn’t look up from her paper while Vinyl silently made her way to the front desk. The unicorn stood but ten feet away with her love still not looking up. Octavia seemed very concentrated on what she was doing. Vinyl’s smile grew wider. She tip-hooved closer to the desk.

“You’re really cute when you’re focused.”

Vinyl laughed audibly as Octavia jumped, being pulled from her work. The earth pony smiled and playfully glared at Vinyl.

“When did you get here?”

“Long enough ago to watch you have no perception as to what is going on around you.”

“Whatever.” Octavia said with a smile.

“How is work today, Miss Philharmonica? It seems… busy.”

“Yeah, well, you know. How’s your morning been?”

“Ah, yeah. It’s been… alright.”

Octavia picked up on Vinyl’s hesitance and gave her a questioning look. Vinyl sighed knowing it was useless to try to fight those eyes.

“I… Lyra.”

“O… kay? What happened?”

“She was just getting on my case again. I got mad and stormed out of the house only to have her follow me into the street and ask when we’re gonna talk. I feel like a jerk.”

“Why’s that?” Octavia didn’t seem mad, but concerned.

“Because… because I WAS a jerk. The fight started with her asking why I was so happy this morning.” A light blush formed on Vinyl’s face. “And me being me… I literally got mad and stormed out. I… I don’t know why. I’m just so sick of her. So sick of being around her. So sick of answering to her. So sick of being her puppet. I think I just snapped. And I don’t want to talk to her because she’s stupid.”

A small smirk played on Octavia’s face. “You don’t mean that. She’s your friend.”

“Yeah, well.” Vinyl pinned her ears to her head and looked away.

Octavia reached over the countertop and pulled Vinyl’s head back towards her. The DJ forgot what she was talking about for a minute, finding herself entranced in Octavia’s eyes and the very idea of the two touching. Octavia smiled.

“I think you should talk to her.”

Vinyl pouted. “Who’s side are you on anyway?”

“Yours, of course. But I also think you’re going to feel like a jerk until you talk to her. You’ve got a lot of things you need to say, and saying them to me will only get you so far. You should talk to her and tell her all the gripes you have. And maybe then you can have your cake and eat it too.”

“But she’s duuuuuumb.” Vinyl whined.

Octavia laughed and rested her head against her hoof.

“Yes, I know Vinyl. But running away from your problems isn’t going to help. You’ve got to actually do something about them. And, in this case, it means talking to Lyra.”

“That’s a funny way of saying ‘Vinyl, Lyra is a stupid dumb face head and you should never talk to her again.’” The dismay on Vinyl’s face was impossible to miss.

“You know I wouldn't tell you who not to talk to.” Octavia said seriously.

The door to the shop opened, and not quietly. A bouncing noise echoed off of the pure white tiles, a noise that caused Octavia to duck under the counter. Vinyl looked as she got tackled to the floor, in typical fashion, by a quick moving pink blob.

“I’ve been looking all over for you Scratchie!”

The Pink One had entered the building. Vinyl grimaced. She felt like she got hit by a train. Though, when she thought about it, she kind of did.

“Then how did you find me, Pinkie?” Vinyl croaked.

“Silly willy. I just waited until I found you and then I knew you’d be there.” Pinkie smiled as if she had made all the sense in the world. Octavia stifled a laugh. Vinyl wanted to facehoof.

“Okay, well, now that you’ve found me, what can I do you for?”

Pinkie stood up, finally unpinning Vinyl. “Well, My little Dashie is going to be going on a trip and I thought that it only made sense to have a party to wish her good luck so then I came here to invite you and Octavia and now I’m here and isn’t that GREAT?!”

Vinyl stared off for a second, trying to get the words to catch up with the rate at which they were being said.

“So… you’re having a party? When? Where?”

“Tomorrow night, silly! We can’t just wait forever to have a party! Forever is a long time and if –“

Vinyl shoved her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. Slowly she retracted, shaking her head as the grin on Pinkie’s face was still as wide as the day was long.

“Well, I guess we can come by, but not too late.”

“Okie dokie lokie! Be at Applejack’s at seven!”

Vinyl shook her head as The Pink One bounded out of the store just as quickly as she bounded in. Finally pushing herself to her hooves, Vinyl cast a glance at Octavia. The gray mare was smirking, a face to which Vinyl grimaced at.

“And what is so dang funny?”

“Pinkie Pie. She’s… humorous.”

Vinyl rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”

“Anyway. I should really get back to work.”

“Right, you’re working really hard.” Vinyl joked.

“Oh shush you. I need to start playing in hopes of luring some people into the store.”

Octavia trotted to the sales floor from behind the desk. Vinyl watched and smiled.

“Yeah, you have a way of luring ponies, don’t you?”

Octavia cast a glance over her shoulder and smiled.

Really Vinyl? REALLY? You’re nervous now? After all the stuff you guys have done… just… you just go. Go do it. Now. Stop staring at her plot at go. Now. VINYL.

Vinyl shook her head, breaking her concentration from Octavia. Slowly, and shyly, Vinyl trotted up to Octy, who was fine-tuning her cello. Vinyl gulped and stood as close to the cellist as she could. Octavia looked up and smiled sweetly, causing Vinyl’s heart to lurch into her throat.

“I, uh, I’m gonna go then. See you at home?” Vinyl stuttered.

“Of course.”

As awkwardly as a baby chick trying to walk for the first time, Vinyl leaned into Octavia. What she found wasn’t fire and tears as she envisioned, but the soft kiss of her favorite pony in all of Equestria. Vinyl felt the heat rush to her face, mocking her internally for being so silly around Octavia still. Octy pulled back mere inches and smiled, looking down at Vinyl’s snout.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Octavia teased.

Vinyl felt her cheeks burn hotter as she chuckled, trying to regain her composure.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Octy.”

Octavia smiled and shook her head, kissing Vinyl again on the nose.

“Go home you butt.” Octavia whispered.

“Home. Right.”

Octavia chuckled as Vinyl absent-mindedly about faced and walked towards the door.

Dos Tavi smooches. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to ‘em…

Vinyl looked back through the windows and saw as Octavia set herself up to play. Vinyl smiled, feeling the emotions in her chest swell. There was something about Octavia that always kept her coming back for more. She didn’t know if she’d ever get used to the affect Octy had on her. From the way she spoke, to the way she was definitely the most beautiful pony ever, there was always something Vinyl was admiring. Vinyl couldn’t help but smile to herself. She was sure she looked like a doofus, standing on the sidewalk and grinning wildly, but she didn’t really care. Standing there, she finally felt like she was the too-cool-for-school pony that everypony thought she was. She felt like she had found something she never knew she was missing. Vinyl felt happy.

Good.

“So when can I start telling ponies I have a marefriend?”

“Probably when you have one.”

Vinyl’s ears pinned back to her head, dejectedly. Her face scrunched in confusion as she stared at the floor beneath her hooves. She gently lowered her empty dinner plate into the sink, not really aware of what she was physically doing anymore. She let her mind run.

But… I thought… what? Did I fool myself this entire time?

Vinyl heard a soft chuckle come from behind her and turned her head around to see Octavia trotting past, taking care to brush against the DJ. The grey pony leaned against the counter, only a few feet away from Vinyl. Vinyl looked up at Octavia, completely unsure of what she was trying to say. Octavia smiled broadly, enjoying the confused look that faced her.

“What… uh, does that mean?” Vinyl was unsure at best.

“It means you’re goofy.”

As confused as Vinyl was, she saw comfort in Octavia’s smile, which she found spreading to her own face.

“But what does THAT mean?” Vinyl said with mock irritation.

“It means that I never heard anypony being asked anything about being a marefriend.”

“Really?” Vinyl said, flatly.

“Really.” Octavia responded, still smiling to the point of near laughter.

“After everything we’ve done, you won’t let me call you my marefriend until I ask?”

Octavia’s eyes were lit up from the pure joy she was getting out of this conversation.

“That’s what I’m saying, Vina my dear.”

“You’re ridiculous.” There was light air in Vinyl’s voice, despite her face being completely deadpanned.

“Yeah, well, you started all of this.” Nothing could wipe the smile from Octavia’s face.

“You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?”

“Me? Stubborn? Of course not. I prefer the phrase, ‘unwilling to settle for less than what I want.’”

It took every ounce of self-control Vinyl had to not jump around the room. She found this was often a problem when dealing with Octavia.

And she wants ME. Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes-okay Vinyl calm down.

“So all I have to do is ask?” Vinyl was still celebrating in her head; it was nearly impossible to keep the excitement out of her voice.

“That’s it.”

“What day is it?” Vinyl knew someday this would be important information.

“The 22nd.”

“Alright then…”

For a pony who’s occupation was being in front of large crowds and entertaining, Vinyl realized how truly awkward she was. She knew the answer to her question and she knew she wanted to ask it. But the words caught in her throat as her heartbeat picked up. She took a deep breath and pulled her glasses from her face, bearing her eyes into Octavia’s. Both seemed drawn into the moment, and after a few seconds of Octavia-induced calming, the words flowed out of Vinyl’s mouth like fresh water from a spring.

“Octavia Philharmonica, can I have the privilege of calling you my marefriend?”

Octavia smiled at Vinyl for a long moment, letting the moment really soak in. When she saw the unsurity flash across those crimson eyes, she finally answered.

“Of course Vinyl. As if there was ever any doubt.”

Vinyl nuzzled Octavia gently and the two shared a quick kiss. The silence wasn’t thick or suffocating, but rather the perfect silence between two ponies who didn’t need to say anything to convey how they felt. Suddenly, a thought hit Vinyl.

“Hey Octy?”

“Yes?”

“Well… I mean, how open do you want to be about this whole thing? I mean, I know you have a reputation to uphold and… well, it’s not like you’ve done this before. I just want you to be comfortable.”

Octavia smiled and nuzzled Vinyl.

“Just because you’re the exception to the rule, doesn’t mean I’m ashamed of you. Do you know why I picked the nickname for you that I did?”

Vinyl furrowed her brow. “Vina? I thought you picked it because you wanted payback for me calling you Octy.”

Octavia laughed softly. “Yes, but do you know what it means?”

“It means quit calling you Octy?”

Octavia gently headbutted Vinyl on the nose. “No you dolt. ‘Vina’ means beloved.”

“That’s sweet Octy. Who would have thought that you picked that all those weeks ago.”

“You are so dense sometimes.” Octavia laughed.

“Waitaminute! I, you. But that. And you can’t. But I didn’t. And how does-“

“Exactly. And if all that is the case… why would I want to hide my beloved?”

Vinyl blushed deeply, her cheeks almost matching her eyes. Octavia once again nuzzled Vinyl, bringing herself near Vinyl’s ear.

“You might be the only exception,” Octavia whispered. “But you’re still my favorite one.”

Chapter Sixteen

Vinyl slowly crunches on the freshly fallen snow, the soft landing of her hooves the only sound resonating in the large mountainside. Quiet, the snow stealthily finds its way to the ground. The sky is coated in a deep, dark grey. The clouds swirl within themselves; tickling the white tips of the distant mountains. She doesn’t quite know where she is, all she knows is its cold and she came with a group of ponies that have long since disappeared. She feels alone and scared, as if everypony else abandoned her when she needed them most. As if she was having a fun time and suddenly there was darkness and nopony at all. A fleeting light burns out within her chest; she feels the coldness consume her whole. Vinyl shivers; she has a terrible feeling.

Ahead of her path, Vinyl sees a large wooden bridge. She trots over towards it, eager to get away from the swelling feeling of panic in her chest. Surely there has to be somepony nearby. Surely somepony has realized that she is missing and scared. Vinyl trots faster, feeling now as if there are eyes watching her from every angle. She tries to maintain a steady hoof but finds her pace to be quickening on its own. Finally, Vinyl sees another pony. Despite herself, she is happy to see a familiar mint green coat and mane. Vinyl trots over to the pony, who makes no notice of her approach. Lyra turns to face Vinyl; her face is a perfect mask of stoicism.

“Finally ready to talk?” Lyra says dryly.

Vinyl nods, against her own volition.

“I don’t know why you keep holding on.”

Vinyl folds her ears down and feels her face fall. Lyra maintains her deadpanned expression.

“It’s useless, you know.”

Vinyl feels a bitter cold wind pierce through the path she’s on. The snow has finally stopped.

“I’m never taking you back. You’re a bad pony. Always thinking of yourself. You don’t care about anyone else.”

Vinyl can feel hopelessness rising in her throat. She fights it, trying to stay strong despite the harsh words coming at her. She opens her mouth to respond but immediately gets cut off.

“I never loved you.”

Vinyl’s eyes sting with tears that she desperately fights against. Her throat burns as every emotion she’s ever felt bubbles to the surface. She looks up. Lyra is no longer Lyra. All Vinyl sees is a set of purple eyes, lifelessly staring at her.

The last thing Vinyl wanted that morning was to see Lyra. She would have rather had Celestia punch her in the face and defecate on the lawn.

Well, actually, that WOULD be KIND of funny.

Vinyl was finishing getting ready for the day. Octavia had already left for work early in the morning, which gave Vinyl no time to talk to her about any sort of anything. Instead, she was trying to simultaneously get rid of and give enough answers to Lyra.

“Please Vinyl? I really think we need to sort this out.” Lyra pleaded.

“I know. We do. But today won’t work. I’ve got stuff to do and then there’s going to be a party for Rainbow Dash tonight. I’m sorry. Tonight won’t do.”

Vinyl was trying really hard to be patient, but she found it was more difficult than she remembered. She had taken Octavia’s advice to heart and she knew that finally duking it out with Lyra would put some demons to rest, but she needed another day. There was way too much stuff to do.

“Rainbow Dash? Really? What, so she can lead you on some more?”

Vinyl gritted her teeth. “No. And she never did. Besides, I’m with Octy now.”

Vinyl watched as Lyra’s face contorted into pure rage for only a millisecond.

How does she DO that?

“Yes. Well. That doesn’t mean that Rainbow Dash isn’t slu-“

“Hey! Come on Lyra.” Vinyl could feel her teeth getting ground down.

Lyra rolled her eyes and changed tactics. “Well, then, what errands are you running? I can come with.”

“I highly doubt that the market is a good setting for the talk we need to have.”

“What, so you’re going to yell at me?” Lyra sounded both hurt and accusatory.

“No. But this is sort of a private thing.” Vinyl was very close to losing her mind. And more importantly, her patience.

“Since when do you care about privacy?” Lyra snapped.

Since when do you want everypony to know that you dated me?

“It’s not a good place.” Vinyl almost growled.

“Then let’s go for a walk.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s like, freaking colder than the moon out there. I’m going to the market because I have to and then I’m coming home. I’m not walking around outside if I don’t have to.”

The two stared at each other for a long moment, tension building in the room.

“Look,” Vinyl started slowly. “I’m not dodging you. Today is just not a good day. I said soon, and I meant it. But not today.”

“Whatever Vinyl. I guess ‘not today’ is just going to be happening for a while. Forget I even said anything.”

Vinyl watched as Lyra stormed out of the house. She put her hoof over her eyes and slowly counted to ten, trying her best to get her anger to subside. When that didn’t work, Vinyl slammed her hoof into the closest wall and glared at the back door that Lyra just left through. She could feel the muscles in her body reacting to the confrontation, the adrenaline taking over. She flared her nose and tried to let her anger go.

“I hate you.” She spat before slamming the door behind her.

The walls thudded with bass from the large speakers that lined Vinyl’s room. She was finally home from what had to be the busiest market place she had ever seen. Ponies were pushy and unwelcoming, which was fine for a unicorn that could have blown up at the first one to give her a funny look.

Loud, angry lyrics screamed from the speakers, straining every corner of the walls to hold together. Vinyl laid on her bed, dead to the world. She curled herself into a tight ball and stared blankly at the wall next to her. Her dream made her cranky, Lyra made her livid, and the last thing she wanted was to pretend to be happy at some party. Sulking father into her pit of despair, Vinyl couldn’t help but replay her dream for what had to be the thousandth time. She was finally coming to terms with the idea that Lyra had lied about everything in their relationship.

You don’t mean that. You know she did. At the time, at least.

She had often battled back and forth in her head if she believed if Lyra really ever loved her at all. Perhaps Vinyl was just some… thing… for Lyra. Something to play with. Someone who would be unconditionally there to listen to her until things got better.

You know she loved you, Vinyl. At least… at the time…Maybe.

Lyra wasn’t the problem, though. Those perfect purple eyes stayed with her all day, staring into her very soul. She tried to contain the burning, sick feeling in her chest; Vinyl knew it was silly to be so upset. She knew that she shouldn’t worry about things like that because Octavia was the real deal. She knew all of this, yet she felt a hole in her chest open up.

This is all Lyra’s fault. I think I have a complex now. Great.

Vinyl was inches from the wall, her red eyes boring into it. Lost and helpless, she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want Octavia to think she was crazy and rushing into things, but the thought of her beloved not truly trusting her and giving her heart made Vinyl crazy. Vinyl didn’t even see the wall anymore. She stared past it, only a whirlwind of emotions and despair in front of her.

“I’ll never understand how you can sleep to this racket.”

Vinyl jumped at snapped her head around, finding herself face to face with a smiling Octavia.

“I, uh, didn’t hear you come in.”

“I’m surprised you can hear anything at all.”

Vinyl forced a smile and turned back towards the wall. Octavia furrowed her brows.

“Vinyl… are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“I am okay. No need to worry.”

Octavia wrapped her hooves around Vinyl, pulling her away from the wall. With an ‘oof’, Vinyl found herself nuzzled tightly against a grey beauty. Vinyl sighed and turned her head towards Octavia; there was no getting out of this one.

“Go on. I’ll wait.”

Vinyl sighed and continued to stare through the wall, the warm embrace of her lover doing little to console the burning guilt and sadness welling in her chest. She sighed, every one of her emotions expanded in her chest and exploded.

“I had a dream last night.” Was all she could mutter.

“Okay…”

Vinyl sighed again, giving up almost completely. “I had a dream about Lyra. I know, I know, it’s a moot point. I’m gonna talk to Lyra soon and get this whole thing over with but… I don’t think I ever got over the idea that she never loved me. I told you that we had a rather interesting relationship, but I never told you about all of the ill will I harbored towards her afterwards. Sure, we were exes and exes are kind of supposed to hate each other. I was too stupid for that, though. At least until I realized that everything she ever told me was probably a lie. She loved me, she said. She wanted to be with me, she said. She’d never been happier, she said. No one could make her feel like that, she said. All lies and crap. I don’t know how I could have been so naïve. So… stupid. The part of me that wasn’t hanging on every word she said was the part of me that saw through every bullshit line she ever fed me. And it hurt. It hurt more than I could ever possibly explain. No words could ever do it justice. Can you imagine if the person that you love the most, if the person that you devote your entire life to just… doesn’t love you? How can you live with that? How can you go on knowing you were never good enough?”

Vinyl finally pried her eyes away from the wall and focused on Octavia. Octavia listened intently, holding Vinyl’s gaze for a long moment. The unicorn rolled over, burrowing her face in the sweet scent of the grey mare.

“It’s hard. It’s hard to think that you’re nothing. That you’ve never been anything. That you never will be anything. You’re just another prop to get someone to their next step. I was just an obstacle so Lyra could get to Bon Bon. And you know what? Bon Bon is probably just another victim. Lyra doesn’t care. Why should she?

I guess… I guess I never really got over it. It hurt like hell. Still does. And I guess that I had a dream last night, and all of my demons came rushing back at once. I don’t want to have this talk with Lyra, I just want her to go away. I just want everything to get better. And everything HAS been better. I don’t want you to think that Lyra’s still a thing. She’s not. I don’t love her anymore. I lo… er, that’s not why I’m upset.”

Octavia cocked an eyebrow. “Then what’s wrong?”

Vinyl felt a sigh escape from her lips. “My dream was about Lyra telling me she didn’t love me. Which kind of hurt. Like ripping into an old scar. But… at the end, Lyra wasn’t Lyra. Right before I woke up, the last thing I remember is the eyes that were staring back at me. They were lavender.”

Vinyl buried her face into Octavia’s chest, ashamed of herself. She hated that she even had to bring it up. She hated that it bothered her at all. But she did and she couldn’t help it. The DJ felt a hoof gently push up against her chin. Within seconds she was staring into those same lavender eyes she had just spoken of.

“I’m not Lyra.” Octavia said tenderly.

“I know, but-“

“And when I say something, Vinyl Scratch, I mean it. And I care about you a lot and I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Octy?”

“Yes Vinyl?”

“Can I… say something at the risk of sounding like a crazy mare?”

“When has that stopped you before?” Octavia smirked.

“I, yeah, well. I mean, I just… you… Okay. I want to say something.”

Octavia chuckled. “I gathered as much.”

“Right. But I don’t want to say it, too.”

“Now you’re speaking gibberish.”

“I just, I… I’ve been thinking. A lot. About you. And I feel like there’s something I want to say but I would look stupid saying because I just need to calm down.”

Vinyl fidgeted awkwardly, her face a brilliant shade of red. The corner of Octavia’s lips pulled into a smile, which transferred to her voice.

“What in all things that are pony are you trying to say?”

“Er. I… I like you. A lot. A LOT.” Vinyl sunk deeper into the sheets, her blush spreading like wild fire.

“We off course, Vinyl. I like you too. That’s why we’re dating.”

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” Vinyl deadpanned.

“I’ve not the slightest as to what you’re speaking of.” Octavia flashed Vinyl an innocent smile.

“I… it’s stupid.”

“Oh, come now. What is it that you’re feeling? I bet I would LOVE to hear it.”

“It’s times like this that I sort of hate you.” Vinyl laughed.

Octavia smiled and leaned into Vinyl’s ear. “You don’t really mean that, Vinyl. Come, tell me what you have to say. I promise I won’t make fun of you.” She whispered.

Putty in her hooves, Vinyl looked up into Octavia’s eyes. “Iloveyou.” She muttered.

How does she DO that?

“Was that so hard?”

Vinyl’s blush ran deeper. “M-maybe.”

Octavia smiled and nuzzled Vinyl. Once again, Octavia found herself at Vinyl’s ear.

“You’re a dolt. And I love you too.”