Octavia had always loved spending time with her marefriend. Ever since she had met her there didn't seem to be a dull day with the dashing unicorn she loved. Sure, they had their ups and downs, like when Vinyl revealed that she was, infact, a vampony, which explained a lot in Octavia's opinion.
Well, not a vampony. A dhampony, Vinyl had explained. But due to her father's strong genes she had retained most features a vampony would have.
But even that didn't shake Octavia in the slightest.
Maybe a little.
Okay, it had shaken her a lot. But it's not everyday you find out bloody vamponies exist in the first place!
Thankfully, all of that drama was behind them now, and Octavia would allow herself to walk beside her marefriend without the initial fear she had, and enjoy their time together to the fullest.
Except today.
"127 years worth of bottle caps." Octavia said exasperated as she pulled a wagon with twelve fully loaded bags through the not so busy streets of Ponyville. "You could not have chosen to collect something more interessting, or at least something that does not pile up so quickly? Like, oh I do not know, paintings? Candles? Maybe tea sets? Anything that would have any value at all now?!"
The pony next to her, Vinyl, shrugged. She too was pulling a wagon filled with the same contents as Octavia's. Sadly, she lacked a regular pony's ability to walk in the natural sunlight, which is why had completely covered herself from horn to hoof with a pulled up hoodie and a pair of stretchy jogging pants. Her favorite pair of shades sat perched upon her muzzle, which was covered by a face mask.
She didn't need the mask, really, but unlike other vamponies, Vinyl couldn't retract her canines and found it easier to avoid pesky questions from little foals and other curious ponies by wearing a mask during the day.
"I like bottle caps." She said, trying to avoid biting her lip under the mask. "Besides, I DID collect other things!"
It was true, Vinyl had always been a hoarder. Ever since she was but a little filly, she had collected various trinkets and things she found interesting and kept them for all eternity. Wether they be old pharmacy suitcases or a blanket with some random pony's family crest, it didn't matter. And Octavia wasn't even going to ask where she had gotten not one, but three different pony skulls from.
Her bottle cap collection however, was the worst. The room they had kept Vinyl's trinkets in was already almost bursting and impossible to walk through, which is why Octavia had put her hoof down and polietly, but sternly, asked Vinyl to get rid of some things she didn't need anymore.
Vinyl refused to give away anything however, which is why they compromised and agreed to rent out a storage space to keep Vinyl's precious bottle cap collection at least. Removing them from the room had already freed up a ton a space, enough to make Octavia stop complaining about it.
Some ponies took glances at the two musicians as they passed, but only shrugged it off. Two ponies pulling carts filled with bags was probably one of the most mundane things to happen in Ponyville, not worth looking into too much.
"Say, Vinyl." Octavia looked over to her marefriend. "Beside hoarding all of Equestria's bottle caps, have you done anything else?"
"Huh?" Although her expression was quite well hidden, Octavia could tell it was one of confusion.
"I mean--... Look, you are immortal, right?"
"Wrong."
"Right..." Octavia thought for a moment before rephrasing herself. "You've lived for about 200 years now. Have you made anything? I have seen you paint before, have you ever worked on a larger project?"
"Oh!" Vinyl's ears perked up under her hoodie. "I have! But, uh, not painting." She cooked her head cutely, reconsidering what she had just said. "Well, there was one time. But that was a comission, not anything I wass passionate about. Bloody bastard didn't even pay me." She muttered the last part to herself.
"Well, what was it?"
"A symphony."
Octavia's eyes widened. "YOU wrote a symphony? You, Vinyl Jolly Scratch, wrote a symphony? By yourself?"
As Vinyl nodded, she made sure to straighten her neck to stand up proudly. "I've been working on it for a good 84 years, maybe longer! It's still a work in progress."
"Do tell me more, Miss Scratch." Octavia insisted, her interest peaking at the knowledge of her marefriend, a DJ, of all ponies, writing a symphony.
"Well..." Vinyl thought. "For starters, it's about 864 pages long--"
"864 PAGES?!" The mare next her stopped dead in her tracks. "Vinyl, why on equus is your symphony 864 pages long?!"
Again, Vinyl shrugged. "When you have an extended lifespan you tend to get carried away with some WIPs." They continued to move, turning a corner into a slightly busier part of the village. "So, anyway, last time I played it I timed it at around nine hours."
At this point, Octavia didn't have to say anything. Her wide eyes laced with the thickest amount of disbelief and her ever so slightly open mouth did the job for her.
"It's supposed to reflect my life, in a way." Vinyl slowed her pace, seeming thoughtful. "I don't really remember why I stared, but I knew that's what I wanted it to be. Which is why it isn't finished yet. Everytime something happens that affects me in a major or meaningful way I turn it into a melody."
A giggle escaped her, as she recalled times where she would stare at her blank sheet, debating how to translate a certain event into sound without repeating herself with any melody she wrote before.
"That is... impressive. Kind of sweet too, dedicating your life to something like that." Octavia managed to say, still in awe of her housemate's accomplishment.
As they came to a full stop, finally arriving at the storage space they rented, Vinyl exclaimed gleefully: "That and bottle caps!"
"I deem bottle caps less impressive."
Vinyl stared at the storage space for a moment. "It looks like a tiny garage!"
It did indeed look like a tiny garage. And luckily it had, even if just barely, enough space to hold all 24 bags of Vinyl's precious bottle caps. As they unloaded and freed the caps of their leathery prison, Vinyl recalled how she got some of them.
Some being given to her by family, some she found on the ground in placed Octavia did not want to ask about and some she flat out stole from patrons of different restaurants.
On their way home, they took a detour to Sweet Apple Acres to return the two carts, thanking the Apple family for letting them borrow them for a while.
Another detour had to be taken when Vinyl mentioned their supply of blood oranges running low.
"But I bought fresh ones just three days ago!"
"Yeah, but consider: that was three days ago. This is now. We need blood oranges to still my ever growing thirst for blood... oranges."
Octavia gave her a look of disapproval. "You do not even drink blood."
"I know, but that doesn't devalue the delicious and absolutely mouth-watering fruit that is the blood orange." Vinyl argued, as she grabbed her fresh net filled with the fruit with her mouth
When she returned and they continued their journey home, Octavia eyed the net curiously. "Why blood oranges?"
"Okay sho, funny shtory." Vinyl took the net out of her mouth, which had already looked weird with the mask, and started levitating it next to her. "I thought it would be totally hilerious if I just started eating them as a joke (because blood) and then I found out they're actually really hoof-lickin' good."
Silence.
"That's it?"
"What?" Vinyl cooked her head again.
"There is no deeper meaning behind it?" Now this was something Octavia couldn't fathom, for the dhampony even had a deeper reason to collect bloody bottle caps. "You just thought it was funny?"
Her marefriend shrugged. "Yeah! Haven't you ever done something because you thought it was funny and it turned out to be great?"
Fumbling with the keys to their humble abode Octavia answered with the most deadpan expression she could muster: "I started dating you."
"Awwwww!" Vinyl cooed, the intended insult flying directly over her head. She rid herself of the clothes she was wearing, the house was kept completely devoid of natural sunlight at all times for her sake anyway.
Her smile grew when she turned to Octavia, who had layed down on the couch to rest for a moment. Believe it or not, pulling a heavy cart really went into your legs and neck. "Hey, Tavs, you wanna listen to my symphony?"
The pony in question put a hoof to her chin. "Well...", her brows knitted together. "I do, but I do not think even I have the mental capacity to sit through nine hours straight."
"Yeah, of course not! You're not straight!"
Octavia groaned.
"I would never ask you to be straight! You're about as straight as my back!"
"Stop it." The classicalist burried her head in the couch and covered it with a pillow for good meassure.
Vinyl sat next to her, still cackling from her own low-hanging fruit of a joke. "No, but seriously, I could split it up. My childhood's the shortest section!"
Removing the pillow and craning her head toward the other pony Octavia smiled. "That sounds lovely."
There was one thing Octavia loved about Vinyl--
No, wait, that came out wrong. She loved a lot of things about her. But if there was one thing she loved most about her marefriend, it was her ability to surprise her anew each day they would spend together.
"Sweet! I'll get my theremin!"
"We have a theremin?!"
