Even in sleep, Octavia was aware of the smell. Sweet and subtle, carried on the breeze, the scent of flowers drifted into her mind and hung there, coaxing her back into the waking world with an exhausted groan. She could feel the cushion of grass beneath her body. Her eyes fluttered open but quickly slammed shut at the blazing light.

Octavia threw a leg over her eyes as she tried to process her thoughts. Her head didn't make it easy on her; it was practically splitting along the sides, pounding as if she could hear thunder in the distance. Despite just waking up, she felt dizzy and exhausted. A part of her just wanted to lay back down and go right back to sleep.

Vinyl...Something about Vinyl.

Her cheeks flushed red, but she couldn't figure out why. A part of her felt embarrassed, but...why? Octava tried to shake the memories loose, but her head gave a protest, and she pressed it down against the grass with a groan. She had a sudden flash of memory of the pair of them on the couch. Vinyl, down between her legs. Octavia smiled absently, before it slid off of her face, replaced by a feeling of shock.

Octavia forced herself up, planting her hooves to keep the terrace from spinning with little success, the memories of last night coming to her in a flood of images. She blinked through the sunlight and looked down at herself. There was no way she did those unspeakable acts! She checked over herself, but there was no sign of anything amiss. Certainly such vigorous...activity would leave some trace, wouldn't it? Yet, her mane was as straight and proper as always and her body was clean. Aside from the unpleasant sensations running through her, she was fine.

Still not completely reassured, Octavia closed her eyes and inhaled slowly to enjoy the soothing scents of the flowers, but the memories wouldn’t let her blush go without a fight. The things they had done! She chanced a gaze at the penthouse. The bay doors leading into the garden were wide open to let in the breeze, and the sun bathed the carpet and the couch in its warm glow. Octavia focused on the couch. Something about it...

The couch!

She forced herself to her hooves and stumbled over to it, eyes sweeping up and down the couch, but she found nothing out of the ordinary. Octavia extended a trembling hoof to the end of the couch, pressing against it. The memory of breaking the couch was still there, but Octavia had been too...preoccupied to care at the time. Yet, it seemed solid and secure now.

“You alright, Octy? You look like crap.”

Octavia wheeled around, spotting Vinyl in the hallway. Or rather, three of them. She blinked the illusions away and ignored her exhaustion to make her way over to her. She grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard.

“Vinyl Scratch! What in Equestria happened last night?” Octavia snapped, staring her straight in the glasses.

It was impossible to gauge her facial expression with those sunglasses of hers, but Vinyl sounded taken aback.

“How the buck should I know? I came back from my set and caught you asleep on the terrace. And you drank all of my coffee!” Vinyl said, squirming free from the gray mare’s grip.

“...Coffee?” Octavia thought back, sitting down on her haunches, a hoof out against the wall to keep her steady as she remembered the cups of instant coffee she had made to keep herself awake.

“Um, yeah,” Vinyl said, looking at her with a tilt of her head. “All of it. Need to watch out, those crashes can kill ya.”

“Crashes?”

“Yeah, ya know. Caffeine crashes? It’ll keep ya awake, but you’ll pay for it in the morning.” Vinyl gave Octavia a pat on the head, eliciting a pained wince from Octavia. “Trust me, I’d know.”

Octava stayed where she was as the DJ pony wandered to the kitchen. She thought hard as she rested her head against the wall, stifling a yawn. Vinyl had come home, and had been acting strange. That had happened. Octavia was certain of it.

“No! Something...happened between us last night! Didn’t it!?”

Vinyl poked her head around the corner. “Um. No?”

Octavia forced her body upright and followed Vinyl into the kitchen. “It did! When you came home you were acting...strange.”

Vinyl stared blankly at Octavia. “Don’t you always say that?”

“You were! You were utterly exhausted, and in pain!”

“Equestria to Octy. News flash. I’m a DJ,” Vinyl used her magic to levitate her coffee mug to her mouth and taking several loud gulps with a satisfied groan. “If I’m not getting bottles thrown at me or grooving my flank off, I’m not doing my job. Ow!”

“No!” Octavia growled as she prodded her hoof into Vinyl’s chest again. “We...we did things!”

Vinyl stepped back, putting some distance between her and Octavia’s hoof. “Things?”

“Yes! We did....you know. Things!” Octavia could feel the heat rising in her face once more.

Octavia blinked, cocking her head as Vinyl laughed.

“Awww! Did Octy have a little wet dream about me?” Vinyl said, reaching out to pinch Octavia’s cheek.

Octavia leaned away from her hoof. “It wasn’t a...I mean...”

Had it all been some sort of erotic dream? Octavia vividly recalled the pleasure that had ran through her body at Vinyl’s kisses, her uncontrollable eagerness, and the sheer bliss when Vinyl had...she shook the thought away, her head aching in protest.

“That’s adorable, Tavi. It really is.” Octavia leaned away from the purple lenses that had suddenly filled her vision. “Two mares, so distant, yet so needy for one another!”

“No, you...you kissed me! And...something...happened. I lost control! You did something to me and stop-smiling-at-me-you-idiotic-mare!”

“Do I get all the juicy details?” Vinyl leaned against the counter, taking another drink of her coffee. “Go ahead. Tell me allll about it.”

“What did you do to me, Vinyl Scratch? What did you do!?” Octavia couldn’t controlthe volume of her voice, even as her head split from her own shouting. Something was amiss here. The memories were far too vivid to be just a dream.

“Stole your heart, seems like.” Vinyl smirked, magically carting her coffee as she trotted off towards the living room. As she did, she stepped through the pool of sunlight from the terrace.

“Stop right there!” Octavia called, pointing at her with a hoof. Vinyl halted, turning towards her.

“Whaaat?” she drawled.

Octavia forced herself to gallop, planting both hooves into Vinyl’s chest. She groaned and shoved Vinyl out onto the terrace. She hadn’t noticed in the dim penthouse, but....Vinyl was different. Her coat had never been that dazzling white, and her mane had never been so vibrant. It had been vivid, electric blue for as long as they had known each other, but it had always had the quality of a standard dye job. It had never popped out so brightly before, catching the eyes and holding their gaze.

“You...You look...” Octavia said, her eyes trailing over her body.

Amazing.

Vinyl gave a giggle. Octavia swore she heard something in it. Nervousness?

“If I knew you liked me this much, I’d take a run to the spa more often.”

“Vinyl, you’ve never gone to the spa in your life!”

“First time for everything!” Vinyl said cheerfully. She moved to go back inside, but Octavia held her in place.

Octavia needed to prove that Vinyl had done something last night with all of her kisses and licks. There was no way it was just a dream. Octavia was convinced of that.

“No! You will not simply...wave this off!”

Octavia steeled herself, taking one deep breath before she leaned in and pressed her muzzle against Vinyl’s in a sudden, deep kiss. She could feel Vinyl tense in surprise before she wrapped a hoof around her neck, pulling her closer. Octavia shivered, and gave a gasp against Vinyl’s lips, but she closed her eyes, unable to resist losing herself in the sudden passionate embrace.

Finally, after seconds that seemed like hours, Vinyl pulled away, a wide grin on her face. “Was that what all of this was about?”

“I...I...” Octavia started, her cheeks flushing with heat once more.

“You’re blushing!” Vinyl said as she gave Octavia a lick on her nose.

The kiss had felt...good. It had felt really good. But it didn’t have any of the world-shattering pleasure that Octavia remembered. And Vinyl just looked at her! And grinned! No blush on her face, just a goofy smile as she considered her.

Octavia, stunned, turned around to go inside. She thought only of her comfortable bed, with the added bonus of getting away from Vinyl. “I’m...going to lay down.”

“Want me to join you?” came Vinyl’s teasing voice, filled with amusement.

“Shut up,” Octavia muttered.

Vinyl laughed from the veranda.“I’ll let you cuddle with me!”

“Shut up, Scratch!”

==========

The kiss. Octavia couldn’t get the kiss out of her head. In spite of how exhausted she was, it had taken her almost an hour to get to sleep. She kept thinking about how Vinyl’s lips had felt against hers. How beautiful she had looked in the sunlight. The entire time, she had been telling herself that she was most certainly not a fillyfooler. She had only kissed Vinyl to prove...what? That Vinyl’s kisses had done something to her? She didn’t even know if anything had actually happened!

Octavia sat up in her bed, a hoof rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Thankfully, her sleep had been devoid of all dreams, erotic or not. She didn’t want to spend the rest of the day questioning reality again. Or rather, the night. She flicked on the light, noticing that it was just past midnight.

Sweet Celestia. I am turning into Vinyl.

Predictably, thinking about Vinyl only brought back memories of the kiss. The kiss that she had instigated. Octavia groaned, throwing her head back against the pillow, mortified. Octavia didn’t know much about love. She’d never had a special somepony. She’d never even gotten close. But she was thinking about Vinyl in a whole new way. The kiss had felt...safe. Warm. It had been a very pleasant feeling.

True, after they had first met, they had gone out for drinks quite a bit. Vinyl may have been more concerned with electronic music than Octavia’s classical, but she had been quite knowledgeable about the subject. Octavia enjoyed talking to her. Had enjoyed, that is. She had offered Vinyl her penthouse to continue their conversations, and yet, nothing.

Was that why she was concerned?

Did she have feelings for Vinyl Scratch?

Octavia shook her head. She was not a fillyfooler.

Yet, there was disappointment. Every time she had ever asked Vinyl out for drinks, or tried to make dinner, or have tea on the veranda, Vinyl always waved it off. Octavia hadn’t thought much about the her feelings at the time, but now...

Octavia slid out of bed, opening her door and peeking out into the hallway. All of the lights were off. Vinyl was probably at another one of her shows. Octavia trotted lightly towards the kitchen, turning on the lights as she thought about a soothing cup of tea...and then she wondered about Vinyl. Certainly it couldn’t hurt to spend a little time with her roommate, right?

But then again...the dream. Her and Vinyl together on the couch. It had to be a dream. The kisses had been amazing, had done something to her body. Made her need them. Need more. Octavia had kissed her earlier and, while the experience had been delightful, it certainly wasn’t as intense. It must have been a dream.

Or something strange is going on.

Octavia tried the couch again. She gripped the end with both hooves and shook it. The wood creaked. Octavia picked up the cushion and tossed it aside. She shook it again. Nothing. Still solid.

She leaned in, looking close. She ran her hoof along the sides of the couch, trying to feel for...something. Anything.

“Ow!”

Octavia jerked her hoof back up, looking at it. Something had stuck her. She looked at where her hoof had been, spotting a sliver of wood jutting out from the fabric. Her heart beat faster. Then she saw them. Nails. The metal blended with the dark fabric, but they were there.

Somepony had nailed the end of the couch back together.

Octavia’s breathing picked up as she backed away. It hadn’t been a dream. She had bucked the end of the couch so hard it had broken, because of Vinyl. Something had happened. They really had done...things. And Vinyl had lied about it. She had pretended that it had never happened.

What is going on? What did she do to me?

Octavia was going to find out.

Author's Note

Oh hey, look at that.