Recollections

Thank you in advance to Syyvak, psp7master, and Knight Wing for editing and critiquing this story for me. I appreciate that you all would help me to become a better writer.

It was a beautiful summer afternoon in Ponyville. The skies clear and the trees standing tall and green. A light breeze tickling the branches and leaves. A few of the loose ones fell into the pond which rippled with every contact, distorting the reflections of ponies who stared into its shallow depths. Little fillies and colts who were brave enough to wade into the dark brown water giggled and splashed one another, which led the other more timid ponies who remained ashore to gather their courage and join in the revelry of the others. A single lifeguard watched the little ones play, smiling at the young ponies and nodding assuredly to their parents. It was a perfect and peaceful day.

Vinyl and Octavia walked along the shore of the pond, watching the young ones play and listening to their giggles and the rustlings of the trees. Vinyl looked at her cellist friend; with her perfect charcoal black hair that flowed in the wind like a satin sheet, who had a smile with teeth that put the stars to shame, who had eyes that could make a bear blush if it looked at them. Vinyl stared at her friend for a bit, admiring her radiating surface.

'Alright Vinyl, today you will ask out this mare. You can do it, you just have to be confident! Just go for it. "Be my marefriend." "Be my marefriend." "Be my--"'

"Hey!"

Vinyl shook her head to break her train of thought and noticed she she was staring at her friend's body. She quickly looked up at Octavia's face. The cellist was giggling and blushing red from catching her friend staring at her flanks.

"Finally I got your attenion! I've been trying to ask you a question for a minute now."

Vinyl grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that. I just kind of... Zoned out for a second." Her cheeks flushed as she spoke, which she hoped went by unnoticed. "A-Anyways, what were you asking me again?"

Octavia giggled. "Well, I asked you what you wanted to do out here. We have plenty of options to choose from and I can't decide. Would you mind?"

Vinyl looked around. There was a group of ponies playing frisbee, but she hated frisbee, so that was scratched off instantly. There was a zipline over and into the pond, but the line was way too long. There were a lot of little pony games, but Vinyl didn't think the parents would be comfortable with two older mares playing with their children. That left the pond.

While she did enjoy swimming, Vinyl was extremely afraid of water that she couldn't see in, see the bottom of, or see what else was in it. It was extremely embarassing and had resulted in her being made fun of by her family whenever they went on boat trips. Vinyl also hated boats, but that's another story. She had never told Octavia about her fear of water, but she knew that Octavia really wanted to go for swim. Her friend had been casting glances at the water every now and then, suspiciously whenever Vinyl was giving her a good look-over.

Vinyl sighed mentally before she spoke. "I guess we could swim. I mean, if you really want to."

Vinyl cringed as Octavia let out a squeal of delight and hugged the Dj tightly.

"Ohthankyouthankyouthankyou! I haven't really swum before and I've always wanted to learn and you could totally teach me and--mmf!"

Vinyl put a hoof in her friend's mouth.

"Whoa whoa whoa, you mean you don't know how to swim?"

Octavia nodded.

"And you want me to teach you?"

Octavia nodded and smiled.

"And you don't mind the fact that you'll be swimming in dirty water that you can't even see in, where little things can touch your legs and you won't know what they were, and where you can sink under the water and nobody will know where you are?"

Octavia rolled her eyes.

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds like you're scared or something. We don't have to swim if you're worried."

Vinyl looked from Octavia to the pond. While the water did scare her, she didn't want to disappoint Octavia. She couldn't bear to see that beautiful face in an expression other than happy. Vinyl made up her mind.

"Ok, I'll teach you. Just don't expect to be horrible on your first attempt."

Octavia grinned and ran off to go change, leaving Vinyl to sit on the edge of the water. Vinyl didn't know why Tavi wanted to wear clothing, since she hardly wore anything besides her cute little bow-tie and collar.

'I wonder if she's going to wear one of those tacky one-piece swim suits.' Vinyl snickered a bit at the thought.

"Ahem."

Vinyl turned to face the source of the noise and was instantly glad that she wasn't a pegasus. Octavia had removed her bow-tie and collar, which Vinyl had expected, but she now fashioned a very sexy and very revealing two-piece bikini that had black lace trimming around the edges. Vinyl gazed hungrily at Tavi's top, which was made up of two tiny triangles that hardly covered anything. Octavia blushed.

"I didn't really know what I was supposed to wear, so I brought something comfortable."

When Vinyl failed to respond, Octavia looked at the ground in embarassment.

"I look stupid, don't I?"

Vinyl broke her gaze from her friend's bust and shook her head vigorously.

"Nononono, that is... Perfect."

Vinyl smiled at her smoothness. She didn't really think that the suit was so great, but that the mare wearing it made it look like something a supermodel would envy. Vinyl looked at the ponies who now stared at her friend's unserpassible beauty and winked at Octavia.

"I bet all of those mares wished they looked as beautiful as you do."

Octavia blushed again.

"So," she cocked her head to the side, "are you ready to teach me how to swim?"

Vinyl grinned.

"I'm ready when you are."

The two mares entered the water, feeling its warmth from the summer sun. Vinyl pushed off and submerged temporarily to get her whole body wet while Octavia waded slowly into the deeper part of the pond. When Octavia could hardly keep her chin above the water, Vinyl swam over and carried her friend into the deeper part. Octavia smiled up at the DJ.

"So is this the first lesson?"

Vinyl grinned nervously.

"Um, well, not really. I just kind of figured that you needed help so I, uh, decided that carrying you would be best." This had run through her mind, but she had mostly just wanted to feel the cellist in her hooves; the soft fur brushing against her own, Octavia's head resting on her shoulder and neck, the breath against her chest and neck. Octavia relaxed into Vinyl's hooves while wrapping her own around the DJ's shoulders.

"Vinyl?"

The unicorn looked down into her friend's deep violet eyes.

"What's up, Tavi?"

"I need to tell you something."

Vinyl quirked an eyebrow.

"And what would that be?"

Octavia looked ashamed as she spoke.

"I lied to you. I actually do know how to swim."

Vinyl laughed at her friend's sincere honesty.

"That's alright, Tavi. No need to be worried about that. I can let go of you if you--"

"You don't have to let go!" Octavia clutched herself tightly to Vinyl, leaving the DJ confused but feeling warmer. Octavia flushed before she spoke again.

"I was thinking that you could teach me something else while we're out here."

Vinyl cocked an eyebrow.

"What else could I teach you out here?"

Octavia blushed and looked down into the water.

"Would you teach me how to dance?"

Vinyl looked down at the wonderful mare that rested in her arms. Just the sight of her could make Vinyl grin uncontrollably, make her heart pound in her chest, make her eyes seek out the perfection that was Octavia. This mare had made Vinyl's bad days turn into bearable ones and her good days into desirable ones. This mare who Vinyl absolutely adored and cherished, that made her feel like fool when she stood next to her, that made her stutter when she looked at her. This mare who made Vinyl's world spin, that made her cheesy, that made her use cliché phrases and words to express her adoration. This mare who Vinyl would do anything for.

This mare who had just asked her to dance.

"Of course I will, Tavi."

Vinyl released Octavia and held her close to her body. She put her hooves on Octavia's waist as her partner did the same to her. The held each other tightly and stared deeply into one anothers eyes. They relaxed in the water and listened for an imaginary rhythm to start; the rustling leaves, the shifting and crackling tree branches, the whistling breeze across the pond's surface, the pond water's ripples and gentle waves whispering against the shore. All other noise was shut out, from the rowdy foals to the talking parents to the splashing and playing of little ponies. Everything was silent for a time.

Then the dance began.

Vinyl and Octavia floated along the water's surface, twirling slowly and stepping gently along their path. They spun and circled and spiraled in what appeared to be a random pattern to any passersby, but both mares knew that there was no randomness whatsoever. The pattern they made could not be taught, not even to the best dancers in the world. They might learn the steps and the tempos and the ups and downs and lefts and rights, but they would never be able to create the passion and pure tranquility of the pattern that the two mares were now executing.

Octavia layed herself against Vinyl as they danced, closing her eyes as she did so. Vinyl wrapped her forelegs around the cellist, holding her as she would a treasure of the heart. Vinyl closed her eyes and swirled around the water with her treasure, reality and surreality becoming one. She could feel the breath on her chest, the blush on her cheeks, the hair carresing her chin. She couldn't tell if this was a dream or not, but Vinyl hoped that it would never end and wouldn't be interrupted by an obnoxious alarm clock at six A.M.

'Vinyl, if you don't ask this mare out now, I will murder you mentally.'

Vinyl looked down at Octavia, who looked up at her partner's face. Vinyl's expression showed that she had a question to ask.

"Yes?"

Vinyl bit her lower lip to ease her nerves.

"Tavi, I know this may sound weird, but I've been wanting--no--needing to ask you this for a while now."

Octavia looked intently into her friend's nervous eyes.

"You can ask me anything."

"Ok. Tavi, I was wondering..." Vinyl suddenly felt breathless.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering if..." She didn't know if she could do it. She was so close, all she had to do was ask one simple, life changing question.

"Yes?"

"What I mean to say is--"

"Hey Vinyl, have you asked out Octi yet?!"

Vinyl mentally crushed Lyra as the musician spotted them in the pond and proceeded to yell from the other side. Octavia looked at Lyra and back to Vinyl before blushing furiously and looking down at the water. Vinyl noticed that Octavia held her tighter than before, but she was still frustrated with Lyra.

"I was about to get to that, Lyra!"

The musician laughed and nodded her head.

"Ok, I was just curious about if you had asked her yet! You've been trying for days now and I was starting to wonder if you ever would!" Lyra looked around before waving to the two ponies. "Well, I got to go and help Bon-Bon with some picnic stuff. See you guys later!"

With that, the mint-green unicorn disappeared behind some trees, leaving Vinyl in shock and Octavia in a blushing state. Octavia looked up at Vinyl after a moment.

"Vinyl, is it true what Lyra said?" She blushed again. "Do you really want me to be your marefriend?"

Vinyl looked down at Octavia and saw the pure sweetness that was tattooed across her entire face, from her smile to the tips of her ears. Vinyl knew that the truth was out, so she might as well ask.

"Tavi, I've been wondering." Vinyl stared into Octavia's eyes and saw them smiling at her. Vinyl smiled back, her mood instantly lightened by this wonderful cellist that rested in her arms. Happiness was within her reach. All she had to do was ask a question. A simple question that could change her life. A question that went like...

"Octavia, will you be my marefriend?"