Canterlot High

Canterlot High

Chapter 6:

“…mmmh”

Octavia’s consciousness slowly drifted from the pleasant dream world into a much harsher, realer one. One, where hangovers were very much possible.

The very first thing she felt was a throb of her head. She had read about hangovers, but she had never thought it would be so annoying or painful.

The second thing that came to her mind were the memories of the evening prior. She shuddered inwardly to what could have happened if Tony and Blue hadn’t shown up the moment they did. She felt a bit traumatized about the experience, and even more appalled by colts than before.

But… somehow she had slept as wonderfully as never before in since she had joined this school. She felt secure and happy and just in peace with the world.

Which brought her to sensation number three.

The warm, cozy, furry body spooning her and the white hooves wrapped around her midsection.

When her mind finally grasped what exactly that white thing around her was she almost bolted up screaming. But for some reason, neither her body nor her mind really wanted to.

She snuggled a bit back into her roommate’s fuzzy belly and sighed contently. ‘Just for today it’s ok, right?’

She opened her eyes to glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It showed 7:06.

During the week, her inner watch was a blessing. She never needed to set an alarm, because she always woke up just about forty five minutes before breakfast.

At weekends, it was more of a curse, since breakfast was usually moved to 9:30.

But at least today it gave her time to think about things.

And with ‘things’ she meant that adorable white lump on her back.

What was it, that made the white unicorn with the spiky blue mane so much different form anypony else? Because, if that were anypony else pressed against her back right now, she knew she would have thrown that pony off the bed screaming.

But why not Vinyl?

Octavia only knew there was something about her.

She just didn’t know what.

In fact, she didn’t know much about the beautiful mare anyways, she didn’t even know the color of her eyes, for Celestia’s sake. And when they talked until late into the night, usually Octavia did most of the talking. To give her credit, Vinyl was a great listener and Octavia enjoyed talking to her greatly and appreciated her opinion, but every time the talking went into Vinyl’s past or her family, the normally rather loud mare, grew quiet and quickly changed the topic. Other than that, Octavia knew they had the same interests. They both loved movies, disliked hoofball and of course had great talent and adoration for music. Of course, their musical interests went in different directions, but rather than clashing, they actually… complimented each other quite well. Fact was, the unicorn with the double-eight cutie mark (yes, she had been eyeing her flank. Involuntarily. Quite often so.) made her feel complete.

That was what best friends did, wasn’t it?

She knew she was Vinyl’s best friend, and Vinyl was hers, like Tony had once said; “It doesn’t matter how much time you spend with someone, just how good that time is. Blue and I were best friends after a week of knowing each other.”

Octavia had known since then that Vinyl was clearly and by far her best friend, preferably forever. But was that all? It felt right to the gray mare… and at the same time it felt wrong.

She wanted more.

But what more was there?

She cursed herself for not having more experience with this kind of social interaction.

Since she didn’t know what else to do, she decided to ask someone about all of this later. Not Vinyl. She didn’t know why, but somehow asking her roommate about this felt… wrong.

For now, all there was to do, was to enjoy the warm embrace and snuggle even deeper into the hug.

Unbeknownst to Octavia, not far away (in bodily contact, actually) another mare had similar problems. …Even if her mind didn’t quite bring her thoughts in such a coherent shape.

‘Uhhhhh fuck… hangover. Shit, my head hurts… but I didn’t even have that much to drink. Ow, my right arm hurts too… oh Octavia is sleeping on it. Didn’t know unconscious pony bodies get so heavy. Ah but I could stay like this forever. It’s so cozy and fuzzy and warm… Oh she snuggled deeper into my belly. Hehe, that actually tickles. She’s so cute…’

‘OCTAVIA IS SLEEPING IN MY ARMS!’

Vinyl was so startled that she rolled/jolted backwards for a bit. Since the bed, as comfortable as it was, was still just a one pony bed, she rolled over the edge of the bed, pulling Octavia with her.

The gray mare didn’t have time for more than a; “Vinyl, what-“ when her position changed significantly: Instead on her back, the warm feeling was now right under her belly and once her eyes opened again, she looked into what could have been two rubies cut by the most talented of all jewelers.

Their form was perfect. The color was the most beautiful red Octavia had ever seen, and would ever see, she already knew that. They reflected the light of the morning sun in a way to make them shine like said sun itself, like a sparkle of a million stars together. It took Octavia a few moments without heartbeat, to realize, that those Rubies were in fact, Vinyl’s eyes.

She stared down at Vinyl’s face, lying on top of her. Her blanket was messily draped over them and their bodies pressed firmly against each other. They’re muzzles just inches apart. In a fit of passion she couldn’t explain to herself, Octavia closed those inches.

It wasn’t like that romance novel she had read once. There was no firework. There was no great revelation of tastes or thoughts. There was no immediate desire to stick her tongue into Vinyl’s mouth.

It was so much, much more plain.

It was just two sets of soft, warm, slightly moist lips, clumsily pressed against each other.

But at the same time it was also so very much better.

There were so many butterflies in her stomach, she was sure they were about to burst forth from her mouth and ruin the moment she had right now.

Then her derailed train of thought was back on track and she realized what she had just done.

What she was still doing.

She was kissing her best friend.

She had feelings for her best friend.

But she had no idea how her best friend thought about the whole thing.

She broke the kiss, shot up and crawled backwards away from Vinyl as far as possible.

She felt tears leaking from her eyes, as she said “I’m so sorry.” And at a higher speed than even Tony had ever managed, she was gone.

Vinyl was still lying there. She would have loved to think about the whole thing, but her synapses had just imploded.

While the incident, from the dropping to the kiss and Octavia’s escape had taken barely twenty seconds, it took Vinyl more than a complete five minutes to collect the puzzle pieces that were her mind and put them into the right order again.

‘Octavia kissed me.’

‘She kissed me.’

‘The mare I love kissed me.’

‘She likes me back.'

'But she ran away.’

‘Because she thinks I’m mad at her for the kiss.’

‘She kissed me.’

“Oh shit Octavia!” Vinyl shot up. “I need to find her!”She dashed out of her room. She had no idea where to look for her roommate (marefriend? Lover? Romantic interest? Future wife?), but Vinyl would leave no stone unturned.

Vinyl needed help and only one pony who could help came to mind right that moment.

One story deeper, a certain bright yellow mare slept soundly. Her green mane hung in leave-like strands from her head and over her face. She had a wonderful dream of standing on a small stage under a gate adorned with white roses. In front of her, only a single pony in a black robe and a black collar with one white stripe, separated her and the endless ocean. On the horizon, the sun was just going down, coloring the whole scenery in orange flaming hues.

She wore a white, beautiful dress, which framed her form perfectly and to her right stood a single, feathered blue stallion in a black tuxedo with a white shirt and a red tie. The pastor had just asked the stallion the question, to which he agreed, and now he turned to the mare.

“Pine Ann Apple I need you-" "-to wake up and help me! I fucked up so badly, or well maybe not. I don’t know myself! Tavi and I woke up in the same bed today, you know, because she had been so distressed yesterday, I didn’t want to leave her alone, and then we rolled and then we dropped-“

Vinyl’s rambling went on and on. Pine woke up painfully slow. She envied her roommate who had slept in her sister’s room for the night. She was probably still sleeping. ‘Just what in tartarus is she blabbering about? What is this about Octavia?’

“-And then she KISSED ME!”

And as if she had been slapped, Pine was awake.

“She kissed You? Oh Vinyl you must be so happy!” She shot up and hugged the confused mare tightly.

“Uhhh... Yeah. Yeah I am. But now she ran away, because she probably thinks she has done something wrong! You need to help me find her. I need to tell her everything is alright and that I love her and then take her in my arms and kiss her again, because that was soooo awesome…”

Once again, hooves were shoved in muzzles. “Vinyl, you’re rambling again. Tell me exactly what happened. And this time a bit slower please.”

“…”

After Vinyl’s explanation, the two mares left Pine’s room to search for Octavia.

“I’ll go check around the school. You go to the clearing at the lake first, you know how much she liked that place.” Pine ordered.

She had actually a pretty good idea where Octavia was, but she could also imagine how confused and scared the pretty mare was right now. She needed to sort her thoughts, before she met Vinyl again and Pine planed to help her with that as much as possible.

She hurried in direction of the school.

When she reached the school building, she took the small flight of stairs at the side down to the little music room. Not many students knew that room even existed, and it was perfectly soundproof.

She opened the door for just a bit, and as she had expected, a cello melody filled the air.

A melody so soft and sweet, but at the same time so incredibly sad.

Pine wanted to show herself and interrupt the dark tones, but she found herself unable to.

She leaned against the half opened door and just listened, until after minutes, which felt like hours, Octavia stopped her play.

Only then did Pine hear the soft sobs which came from the gray mare.

Octavia was crying.

Pine pushed the door, to open it with a creek, in an attempt to make herself known, without giving away that she had been there for at least five minutes now.

The gray earth pony turned around.

Two streaks under her eyes, where the tears were running down in unending waterfalls, were a few shades darker than her coat.

"Pine?" Octavia's voice cracked multiple times in the single, four letter word.

The yellow mare couldn't bear the sight of the cellist and rushed in to throw her arms around her in a crushing hug.

"Shhh , shhh. It's all going to be alright. It's gonna be ok." Pine tried to calm her younger friend, while the latter was silently crying into her shoulder.

"No. No it's not going to be alright. Nothing is going to be alright. Vinyl hates me. I just wanted a friend. SHE just wanted a friend! I don't want those feelings. I never asked for them! Why can't I be normal at least once in my life? I was happy the way it was, and now she probably never wants to see me again..." She sadly trailed off.

"You know, today I woke up when a completely distressed white unicorn rushed into my room, completely confused, because a certain roommate had suddenly kissed that unicorn, and then rushed off without another word."

"Neon kissed Tony?" Octavia's crying stopped for a second. She sounded even more confused than before.

Pine deadpanned "...I'm talking about Vinyl, silly."

"Oh... so you talked with Vinyl. That means you know I'm in... That I kissed her... Do you hate me now? For being a fillyfooler?" Octavia looked up at Pine, her look resembling that of a small pleading kitten.

Pine tightened her hug around the gray filly. "Don't be stupid. Homosexuality isn't something bad. It's how you were born. Just like we can't choose our coat color, we can't choose who to love. But that brings me to an important question: what are your feelings towards Vinyl?" Pine asked. Her voice now stern and inquiring.

"I don't know. Oh Pine I'm so confused. I like her. Very much so. Just as much as I like my parents, but different... But I thought those were normal feelings towards a best friend. I know I think about her too much, almost every waking moment." She grew very quiet. "And sometimes even when I sleep."

The other mare had to suppress a grin. She was about to ask "And what kind of dreams are those?" but she refrained from it. The gray filly was shaken enough as it was.

"And do you usually dream about other ponies like that?"

"Well, I did dream about you or the guys at least once, but those dreams were different. When I dream of Vinyl, I see her standing in a meadow, her white coat glistening like a thousand diamonds in the first light of the day." Octavia blushed heavily at her own words. "And then I saw her eyes for the first time today... I'm still not sure what happened, but I suddenly felt my lips pressing on hers... oh, it felt so right, but I didn't ask her permission, and now she probably hates me and never wants to see me again..." Octavia sadly closed her eyes.

Satisfied with Octavia's confession, Pine vowed she would see to it, that these two mares had the happy end they deserved. "Don't be silly. Do you think if she never wanted to see you again, she would have rushed into my room and woke me up to help her search for you?"

"Well, no... but-"

"No buts." Pine interrupted. "I think you should hurry back to your room, hope that Vinyl is there and then you have a nice, long talk with her. Who knows? The results might be surprising." Pine could have told her right there that Vinyl had feelings for her since quite a while, but she didn't want to make the white mare's job too easy. She would have to do at least a bit of work herself. But Pine was convinced that Vinyl would find the right words.

"But what if she screams at me, and tells me to go away and never come back?" She was shaking at the sole idea of the thought.

"She won't. I promise you."

It took Pine a few more minutes and warm words to convince the shaking mare to return to the dorms with her.

When they stood in front of Octavia's and Vinyl's shared room, tears welled once more in Octavia's eyes.

"I can't do this. What if you're wrong?"

"Oh come on. Don't be so whiny." Pine opened the door and entered.

Inside, they found an in circles pacing Vinyl.

"Pine? Did you find her? She wasn't at the lake, so I searched everywhere else. I even teleported to the other dorms, I don't even know why I thought she would be there and now my head hurts because I suck at teleportation magic. But I really need to find her and-"

That was the moment she noticed Octavia standing behind Pine, doing her best to merge with the wall. Since the  wall was white and she a rather dark grey, she didn't do a very good job.

The dumbfounded expression of a pony stopping mid-speech only slowly left Vinyl's face.

"..."

"..."

"I'll take this awkward silence as my cue to leave. You two need to talk, and I'm just in the way." Pine said, as she walked backwards out of the room, pulling the door close behind her.

"..."

"..."

The awkward silence, as Pine had so fittingly described it, continued. Vinyl cautiously moved closer to Octavia.

When they were only hooves apart, Octavia took a tentative step back, averting her eyes. The rug had just become so infinitely more interesting.

"Listen, Vinyl, I'm really very s-" She felt a soft white hoof on her lips, signaling her to cease speaking.

"Don't. Please don't." Vinyl looked at her, pleadingly, a hint of tears in her eyes. Her voice wavering only slightly. "Don't even dare to say sorry for the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. If you are apologizing here right now, then it sounds like you didn't really mean it, and it has all been just a stupid mistake. I don't think I could take that." She gulped hard. "Please, say anything but sorry."

"Vinyl, I... You liked it?" Octavia's expression turned into a confused one.

"Didn't you listen? It was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Did you... did you mean it?"

"I... I'm not sure..." Vinyl's pleading look changed to a frown. "No no no. Look, Vinyl, I..." Octavia inhaled deeply. "I really like you."

Hope returned to the mare's ruby red eyes.

"You mean as in like... like?" The words sounded just as stupid as she had remembered them from any second rate movie she had heard them in, but nothing else came to her blank mind at that moment.

Blushing, Ocavia nodded her head and kept her gaze downward to the floor.

"Vinyl I have never felt this way about anyone. I... don't know what to feel at right now... I'm so horribly confused. I like you very much, really, but... we're both mares, and I... I just don't know..."

Suddenly she felt two hooves wrap around her neck.

Vinyl pulled her in a tight, warm embrace and Octavia could feel herself return the gesture.

She heard a silent sobbing, and it took a while for her to notice, that she had stared to cry into Vinyl's shoulder.

"It will be ok,Tavi. I think I should make a confession here;" She took another deep breath "Tavi, I love you. I have for a while now, but I was too scared to tell you the truth. I know it might be too early to say such a thing as "I love you", but this is how I really feel, and if you're willing, we could just try, maybe go on a date, and see where it goes. I know this must be scary and confusing for you, believe me I feel the same way, but maybe we could just-"

Vinyl was cut off by a pair of soft, pink lips pressed on her own, and they both melted into their second (first mutual), passionate kiss.

When Vinyl's lips were released from their hold, she couldn't help herself but smirk "Does that mean you're willing to try?"

Octavia gave a soft smile back. One, which made Vinyl's heart melt. "Yes, Vinyl, if it's with you, I'm willing to try."