The Cellist

Chapters

Knowing Octy
To Be A Filly
Upsetting News
St. Hooftrick's Day
Dropping By
Night, Lights
Spoke Too Soon
Misunderstandings
To Be Bee
New Beginings
In Which Everything is (Almost) Tied Up in a Neat Little Package
In Which Everything (Really) is Tied Up in a Neat Little Package
Epilogue
~Notice~

Knowing Octy

I walked back and forth across the dorm room, glancing at the clock whenever I could. Ever since the Club Canterlot incident with Thunderlane, I didn’t trust Octy to be out by herself. She wasn’t used to the rough streets like I was. If anything happened to her, she couldn’t protect herself.

The thought of Octy in an alley with that creep, Concerto, hovering over her made me want to run out and find her, but I figured she would just be pretty pissed if I did that. Instead, I paced. My hooves clicked and clacked against the floor, driving me insane, but at least I was concentrating on something other than Octy.

You know she doesn’t love you, a voice at the back of my mind taunted. She may be into mares, but she doesn’t love you. She probably wants Lyra.

“Lyra has that Bon Bon filly,” I said aloud, trying to push the thoughts out of my head.

Then maybe she wants Bee Bop.

“After what she tried to do to Octy’s reputation? I don’t think so,” I scoffed. I tried to ignore the fact that I was talking to myself. Octy always said that talking to yourself meant you were going insane. I stared at the walls, the doors, and even the carpeting in the bedroom. I did anything to keep my mind off of Octavia.

The door creaked and my ears perked up, twitching for the sounds of ponies.

“Octy, is that you?” I called out, even though I knew it was Octy. Nopony else had the key to the dorm. I didn’t wait for a response. I just bounded over to the door, pushing the negative thoughts out of my head.

~XoXo~

I sat on the couch, waiting for Octy to just open her mouth and tell me what was going on. I had a pretty good idea of what she would say; it was just saying it that was the problem. She would tell me that she knew I was in love with her. I would counter with some sarcastic joke about her flank. She would tell me to be serious. I would shut my trap. She would tell me that she was honored, but she didn’t feel the same way and she probably never would. I would act chill, and then cry myself to sleep.

“Octavia, are we talking or not?” I snapped impatiently. If she was going to break my heart into a million pieces, she could at least be respectful and do it quickly instead of stringing me along. The grey mare looked up at me, her lavender eyes twinkling in the dim lamp lighting. Her dull grey and black coloring made her eyes look even brighter, and for a second, I didn’t care that she was about to ruin my life. She smiled an adorable little half-smile and looked up at me.

“Never mind.”

I looked at her, my face screaming ‘what the actual buck’. At first, I thought I was missing something. She might have said something while I was busy staring at her eyes.

“Come again?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“Never mind,” Octavia repeated. “It’s not that important anymore.” I wanted to hug her and kick her at the same time. She wasn’t rejecting me before I could even ask, but she had scared the crap out of me.

“Octy, please tell me you’re bucking with me.” I wasn’t in the mood to be messed with. Octy had made this talk sound like the most important thing since the invention of dubtrot, and now she was acting like we were discussing something lame, like science.

“I am not, and I would appreciate you not using that foul language. If you’ll excuse me, I would like to go to bed. I’ve had a very…complicated evening.” Octavia’s eyes darted to the door.

“This isn’t cool. You said we were going to talk, so let’s talk.” Octy made her way to the bedroom and I concentrated really hard. In a flash of blue, Octy was right above the couch, covered with a blue bubble…thing.

“Vinyl Scratch, you release me this instant!” Octy yelled.

“I would, but I have no idea what I’m doing,” I taunted. “Now, let’s talk.”

“There’s nothing to say, really. I just thought I should tell you that…” Octavia looked around the room, her lavender eyes settling on my flank. “I want to know about your cutie mark!” she blurted. I looked down at the backwards bridged eight notes stamped on my flank and heard a soft ‘humph’ as Octavia fell to the couch.

“You want to know about my cutie mark?” I asked, disbelieving. My cutie mark story was probably the most boring cutie mark story in all of Equestria.

“Of course,” Octavia smoothed down a stray piece of her mane. “Seeing as we’re very good…friends, I would like to know how you found your special talent. I’ll tell you my story, if you’d like.”

“It’s nothing interesting, honest.” I shrugged. “I’ll tell you tomorrow, I guess. I mean, it’s late and I’m tired and you’re tired and...” I stopped myself, biting my tongue to keep from rambling on.

“That sounds lovely.” Octavia avoided making eye contact, her eyes lingering on the bedroom door. “If that’s all…”

“Yeah, I guess that’s it. We can go to bed now.” We both looked at each other as what I had just said sunk in.

“Well…um…”

“I mean separately! We’ll be in our own beds…alone…by ourselves and not together!” Octavia’s nose crinkled as she held back a laugh.

“I knew what you meant, silly filly,” Octavia smiled. “The phrasing was a bit funny is all.” I bit my tongue to keep from replying and Octavia made her way into the bedroom. I followed behind her, trying not to watch the way her flank swayed as she walked. I tried to ignore the sweet lavender shampoo smell that wafted off her mane. I tried to ignore that weird fluttery feeling in my chest as I watched her curl up into bed, adjusting her covers so that every inch of her body was warm.

I love you, Octy. You don’t know it yet, but I love you, I thought as I curled up into my own bed. My eyes drooped and before long I was asleep, my dreams dancing with images of the cellist.

Author's Note

Wheeeeee~ It's done! The first chapter is finished! This is actually about the time I had originally wanted to post this, but because of computer issues, I thought you wouldn't get it until March. So here it is you wonderful amazing people!

To Be A Filly

The week following Octy’s ‘never mind’ incident seemed to drag on forever. Even with the sweet release I got from dubtrot, the week sucked. Every one of my boring classes decided that they needed to give us even more homework to prepare for exams, and Octy was no help.

“You need to do your own homework, or you’ll never learn,” she said after I asked her for the millionth time.

“But it’s boring!” I whined. “It’s hard, too.”

“Then you should pay attention in class. I have the same level classes as you, and I get the same work. I have no trouble with any of it.”

“That’s because you’re a bucking genius,” I grumbled. “You understand everything.”

“I just pay attention and take notes,” Octy replied. “How about we take a break? I can tell you my cutie mark story if you’d like.” She smiled at me and I released the magical hold on the book I was supposed to be reading.

“Sounds great!” I trotted to the bedroom and plopped myself on the bed. Octavia was more dignified, choosing to walk in and curl up neatly on her bed, making sure her hooves were placed so they wouldn’t fall asleep.

“Are you ready? It’s a rather simple story, but I think even you would find it interesting.”

“Anything is more interesting than the reproductive system of a griffon.” I adjusted myself so I was in a better ‘listening-to-Octy’ position and watched her, waiting for her to begin.

“Well, it all started when I was a very young filly. I would see my mother playing all sorts of instruments and I would want to play them too. She played the cello as my lullaby, and I wanted so badly to be able to play like her.

“I remember asking my father to buy me a cello one year for my birthday. He told me I was much too small for a cello, and that was the end of the matter. I didn’t argue with my parents. Well, that night, I heard my mother tell my father that I was sad while she played my lullaby. My father told her that I wanted a cello and that he had said no. I sat by their door all night listening to my mother argue about how I should have something to play.” Octavia stopped for a moment, a small smile across her face.

“Did he buy you a cello or something?” I asked, unable to sit patiently. Octy shook her head at my foalishness, but she continued on.

“I fell asleep at their door and when my father woke me up, he presented me with a violin. At first, I was upset. I told him that he had the wrong instrument. He laughed and told me that he was starting me off with the violin to see if I could play. He worried for me. My mother, as you know, is a unicorn. Her magic helped her to play. My father, being an earth pony like myself, knew that earth ponies have a hard time doing things that unicorns find simple. He was afraid that I would be unable to play the violin. He thought I would fail and be heartbroken.

“I remember how happy I was when my mother started teaching me to play. It was harder for her because she had to teach me how to hold the violin instead of how to levitate it, but she figured it out in the end. I was horrible at first; the notes sounded like hoof-tips on a chalkboard. I got better in time, but it took me almost a year to be able to play a simple lullaby.”

“Did you ever get your cello?” I asked. The cello was what made her Octy. I had grown so used to her fawning over her cello that hearing her talk about a violin in the same way made me feel like she was betraying her instrument.

“I’m getting to that,” Octy snapped. “When I was able to play the perfect lullaby, I called my parents into the sitting room. My father, who had always been out with a client when I practiced, was prepared for the worst. My mother, who I had excluded after six months, was expecting nothing more than a few short notes. I think I shocked them both when I started to play.

“I did a simple lullaby. It was nothing more than that. I eased through the notes and, when I was done, I felt this surge of joy. My parents applauded and I felt this...spark go through me. I looked down and saw my cutie mark, this treble clef, resting on my flank as though it had been there all my life.”

“That explains a lot,” I nodded. I had always wondered why Octy didn’t have a bass clef. I didn’t know much about classical instruments, but I knew for sure that cello was in bass. “It suits you,” I added. “I can’t see you as anything else but a classical music musician.” Octy smiled, but looked down, trying to seem modest.

“You have to tell me your story now,” she said suddenly. “You promised me you would tell me, and now you have to live up to that promise.”

“I have to study, remember?” I stuck my tongue out. “I’ll tell you the story later.”

“But I want to hear it now!” Octy whined. “It’s been bothering me since I met you! Why is it backwards? Bridged eighth-notes go the other way!”

“I’ll tell you when all this homework is done.” To prove my point, I left the room and sat at the table, levitating one of my millions of books in front of me, pretending to read.

“I’ll help you if you swear to tell me as soon as it’s all finished!” the cellist pleaded. I had never actually seen her this desperate to know something.

“I don’t know...there’s so much work to get done...”

“Vinyl Scratch, we both know that this is just a setup so that I’ll do your work for you. I am offering to do half, just because I want so badly to know why your mark is mirrored. I will do no more than half.”

“Deal,” I stuck out a hoof. “That’s like, five billion things out of the way.” Octy took my hoof in hers, rolling her pretty lavender eyes. Celestia, how I loved her eyes.

“There’s not that much. I’ll take the science and math stuff. You still have to do History, Musical Theory, and Equestrian Ancient Languages.”

“Octy, you are a lifesaver.” I sighed, pulling half of the mountain of work towards me. “Seriously, I don’t know where I would be without you.”

“Knowing you, prison seems like the best bet. That or some random stallion’s bed. Or mare, considering.” I gave Octy a shove, trying not to hurt her. The ‘random stallion’s bed’ comment was too close to home for me, but I tried to shake it off. It was a long time ago, and it didn’t matter anymore. It wouldn’t matter, because it would never happen again. I had Octy, even if she didn’t really know she was mine yet.

“You said your mom used to play you a lullaby.” I looked to the cello that Octy kept in the room. It wasn’t as nice as the one she had for class, but it was still pretty expensive. “Could you maybe play it for me sometime? You don’t have to, but maybe I can remix it like I did with Palladio...”

“I’ll play it after exams are over, as a reward for you trying so hard,” Octy promised. Her face lit up in a sweet smile and I had to force myself not to lean in and kiss her. Her mane was slightly disheveled from just being alive and moving around. Her coat was perfect and glossy. I found myself just staring at her for what felt like hours.

She doesn’t like you. Get that through your head. Find another mare. Somepony else will have to like you because Octavia will never be your marefriend.

“I know,” I said aloud. Octy looked at me with her head cocked to one side.

“Pardon?”

“I know the answer to this question,” I said quickly. “San Stallitonio won its independence from Mexicolt.” Octy didn’t answer, but I could tell she wanted to facehoof. I gave her a cheesy grin, and, sure as Celestia bringing up the sun, her hoof met her face in an act of embarrassment.

“Read your book,” she said with a roll of her eyes. I propped the book in front of me and stared blankly at the pages, trying to learn something. When that didn’t work, I levitated my shades from the bedroom and put them on so I could watch Octy do my homework. The little quirks that made her Octy were more obvious when she thought nopony was watching her. The way her hoof tapped the table as she read. The way her tongue poked out the left side of her mouth while she wrote, and out the right side while she thought what to write. When she wasn’t watching her appearance, she was a real pony. She had imperfections that made her perfect. She had flaws that created something beautiful. She wasn’t Octavia Philharmonica, the prestigious Canterlot mare. She was Octy, the perfectly imperfect mare.

I could have watched her study all day, with no complaints, but for some reason Celestia had decided to curse me with eternal bad luck. Just as I was getting into a nice rhythm of tapping my hoof in harmony with hers (which is pretty hard since the table doesn’t change pitch), somepony banged on our door.

“I’ll get it,” I jumped up from the table and lifted my glasses to the top of my head so they were resting on my horn. I pulled the door open with a small stream of magic and turned my head to the side.

“Who’re you?” I asked. The pony in front of me was light brown earth pony stallion with a black mane and tail. His eyes were green, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to smash me into the ground and grind me up into a bloody DJ carpet.

“Is Octavia here?”

“Who’re you?” I said again. “We didn’t get any information about you coming down here.”

“I would like to see Octavia, if she is here,” the stallion said again, refusing to answer my question.

“Octy! Some pony is here looking for you!” I called, not breaking eye contact with the stallion at the door. We gave each other death glares until Octy trotted up beside me.

“Hello, father,” she said calmly. “I was wondering when you would be paying us a visit.”

Upsetting News

The stallion, who went by ‘Gavel’ and refused to let me call him ‘Mr. Philharmonica’, sat on our sofa, sipping his tea as he stared at me. Octy kept asking him questions about work, and I glanced at his cutie mark. A gavel over a briefcase. Well that was unhelpful.

“How did the lawsuit between Fleur de Lis and Hoity Toity go?” Octy was asking.

“She won, though it was almost impossible for her to lose. Judge Swift Decision couldn’t resist her...temptation.” Gavel shuddered and Octy took a seat across from him. I tapped a hoof on the side table, my patience running low. Octy sensed my discomfort and turned to her father.

“What brings you here? I assume mother sent you to confirm that I am, indeed, a fillyfooler?”

“I am here to meet this ‘demon’ you have as a roommate.” I almost lashed out at him, but I could hear the light chuckle issuing from the stallion. He looked up at me and smiled. “May I ask your name? You already know I am Gavel Philharmonica.”

“Vinyl Scratch, but I DJ as DJ Pon-3.” I held out a hoof. Gavel took it in his own and gave it a firm shake. Octy looked pleased to see us getting along.

“I must admit, the music you played at the concert was enjoyable, even for an old stallion such as myself.”

“You...you like my dubtrot?” For a moment, I was in disbelief. After the shock passed, I looked to Octy.

“I told you everypony digs my wubs!” I shouted. I jump up and did a foalish flank wiggle, slapping my hoof just below my cutie mark. “Kiss it!”

“Vinyl!” Octy gasped, trying to return me to my seat. Her face was turning red as she tugged hopelessly on my tail. “Stop that this instant!”

“Now, Octavia, you don’t intend to...kiss it?” Gavel’s lip wobbled as he held back a laugh. I strung a hoof around the stallion’s shoulders.

“Gavy, you’re pretty cool. How is Miss Stick-Up-Her-Rump related to you?”

“I assure you, he’s much more dignified when Mother is around,” Octy grumbled. Gavel cleared his throat, suddenly becoming serious. Even I returned to my seat, the grin wiped from my face.

“That brings me to my second reason for the unannounced visit.” Gavel waited until Octy was in a seated position beside me before he continued. “Octavia, darling, you know how your mother feels about fillyfoolers and coltcuddlers.”

“Is this about my being disowned?” Octy asked. “Because if that is the case-”

“No, Octavia. You are not being disowned as long as I have any say in it. This is something far less serious than you being part of the will. Your mother and I have had one argument too many. You see, she feels that you should not be our daughter legally anymore due to your...disease. I, on the other hoof, say that you are still the same mare you were before you left home.”

“What are you trying to say, Father?” I looked to my roommate and put a hoof around her shoulders, holding her against me in a friendly hug. She smelled of lavender and I could feel her body shaking.

“Octavia, your mother and I are no longer going to continue our marriage. There was a time when I cared for Serenada. I loved her dearly, but if she refuses to call you our daughter, I refuse to call her my wife.”

There were a million things Octy could have done. I expected her to shout, or argue as to why they should make the relationship work. I even thought she might agree that it was the best thing to do at this point. Instead, she buried her face into my neck and sobbed.

“Octy, it’s gonna be okay,” I whispered as I stroked her mane. “You’ll be alright.” The cellist continued to sob.

“Octavia, this doesn’t mean I don’t still love you. It’s because I love you that I don’t want to continue my marriage with your mother. She said terrible things about you, and I don’t want to live with anypony who is going to insult my only daughter.”

Octy lifted her head off my shoulders, her eyes slightly red and my shoulder slightly damp.

“I’m sorry about my reaction,” Octy said, her voice shaky. “It’s just a shock. You and mother seemed so happy when I was a foal.”

“We were happy, darling, but now that you’ve made a very grown-up decision, your mother can’t handle it.” Gavel approached his daughter and nuzzled her lightly. “You’ll be alright, Octavia. You’re a strong mare. You’ve always been strong.”

“I love you, Papa,” Octy said through her tears. “When you see Mother, tell her I love her too, even if she now hates me.”

“She loves you,” I said suddenly. “She thinks she hates you, but she loves you. You’re still her daughter. Fillyfooler or not, you’re still her daughter, and nopony could ever hate her own daughter.”

“Very well put, Vinyl,” Gavel said with a small smile. Octy looked at me and put her hooves around me in a hug. I returned the hug, the only thought on my mind being that she needed somepony to listen to her and care about her. She didn’t need a marefriend right now, and she wouldn’t need one for a while yet. Right now, she just needed a friend, and I was determined to be there for her.

Author's Note

I'm just gonna take this time right here to thank syvvak for editing this because seriously, my spelling and general grammar laws are dead right now. So thanks for the lovely editing syvvak!

St. Hooftrick's Day

I threw back another glass of cider, nodding my head in time to the beats that were pounding behind me. The barstallion knew I was a bit too young to be drinking- anypony could tell I was only fifteen- but he kept sliding a fresh glass my way when I asked.

The barstallion slid something at me and I was about to down it when I realized that it wasn’t cider.

“I didn’t order this,” I said over the noise. “I’ve been gettin’ nothing but cider.”

“It’s from him.” The stallion nodded his head towards the end of the bar. A unicorn stallion with round shades looked over towards me. He lowered his glasses, revealing bright blue eyes, and winked. At first, he looked like a total dork. He was wearing a stupid black shirt and a white tie. He was either white or blue- I couldn’t tell with all the flashing lights- and his mane was cut in the choppy style that most stallions wore.

I must have stared too long because he left his seat and plopped down next to me. He was blue, not white, and he smelled like cider.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Fifteen,” I replied. “Why?”

“Club Canterlot ain’t supposed to sell to anypony under eighteen,” the stallion said with a smirk.

“My dad owns the joint.”

“Get outta here, you ain’t Rec’s kid.” The stallion raised his glasses magically so they rested on his horn. I stuck out my hoof and smirked.

“Vinyl Scratch, flesh and blood daughter of Record Scratch.”

“Neon Lights, weekend DJ down at Buck It.” The unicorn bumped his hoof against mine.

“Why are you here if you work at Buck It?”

“Rec offered me a job for when I finish school,” Lights replied. “I’m a sophpony in high school, but after that I might go to that Canterlot Music Academy place, and then I’ll work here.”

“How old are you?” I asked in surprise. At first glance, Lights looked to be nearly nineteen.

“Sixteen, but I just turned. You’re a sophpony too though, right? How come I haven’t seen you at school?”

“I’m actually a freshpony,” I admitted. “I uh...sorta failed the eighth grade, so I didn’t get to high school until this year.” Lights nodded, and I wished he would take off his glasses. I had a feeling he was looking me up and down.

“Where’s your coltfriend?” he asked suddenly. “And why’d he let you just come up to the bar alone?”

“You tell me.” I shrugged, not caring to explain that I had never had a coltfriend before in my life. Lights chuckled and I downed the drink he had ordered for me. It was pretty weak stuff, but it tasted amazing. Lights slammed a few bits on the counter and the barstallion replaced them with another drink. I levitated it and poured its contents down my throat.

~XoXo~

I stumbled after Lights as he fumbled to flip the lights on. When he finally managed, I squinted at the brightness.

“Here.” Lights slammed a pair of sunglasses onto my face and everything was covered in a light purple haze. “Those suit you.”

“Thanks,” I giggled. I collapsed onto something soft and Lights lay beside me, running his hoof though my mane, across my shoulder, down my side, along my flank...

“You’re pretty hot, Scratch,” Lights said softly. I stiffened, unsure of how to respond. My brain was fuzzy and it couldn’t tell me what was happening. I didn’t know what I was doing, but my mouth said:

“You’re pretty hot yourself, Lights.” The next thing I did was even stranger. I found myself lips to lips with Lights, our tongues locked in a battle for dominance. I didn’t notice that Lights was no longer wearing his stupid shirt. I didn’t care that his hooves danced across my body. I didn’t feel the slightest bit of worry as he asked if what he was doing- what we were doing- was okay.

~XoXo~

The next morning, I woke to a throbbing in my head and a throbbing between my legs. My eyes forced themselves open and Lights smiled at me.

“You alright, babe?” he asked, levitating the glasses from last night to my face.

“I have to go,” I said simply. “Dad is probably pissed- I’ve never stayed out all night without permission.”

“If you gotta go, you gotta go,” Lights said sadly. “But I’ll look for you at school.” My stomach lurched as I thought of Bee Bop, my marefriend, and how I had pretty much made a secret relationship an awkward impossibility. I would have to go public as soon as possible.

“See you around.” I dashed from the room, not bothering to say goodbye. It wasn’t until I was home that I realized I still wore his sunglasses.

~XoXo~

It had been four years since I slept with Lights, and it still bugged me. Everypony was out getting drunk out of their minds- even Octy was celebrating St. Hooftrick’s day- and I was in the dorm with a cider and the TV. I wished I had accepted Octy’s offer of her staying home with me, but I just had to let her off with Brassy and Symphony and Concerto so they could get her nice and drunk.

Octy needs to do something to forget about the divorce, I reminded myself. It’s good she got out with other friends. It didn’t change the fact that I couldn’t enjoy my day without thinking about Lights and how he had avoided me for years when Bee told everypony what I was. Sure, we were friends now, but the stupid holiday was still awkward for both of us.

The door swung open, and Octavia tripped into the room. The door slammed as Octy took the couch seat beside me.

“Oh, Vinyl, I wish you had come!” the pretty grey mare hiccuped. “It was so much fun! I missed you though. Club Canterlot can get quite dull with snooty-booties like Symphony!” Octy’s bottom lip stuck out in an adorable pout.

“Glad you had fun, Octy.” I said with a smile. Octavia looked at me for a second before taking my glasses off.

“You look prettier without them,” Octy explained. “Now I can see your beautiful eyes.” She hiccuped again and I put a hoof around her shoulders, thinking about the headache she was sure to have tomorrow morning.

“Why didn’t you come too?” Octy whined, looking at me with sad eyes.

“I...I don’t really like the holiday. Bad memories.” I shrugged. “I usually stay home.”

“I missed you.” Octy hiccuped a third time.

“You need sleep. You’re gonna have a hell of a -mmph!” Octy slammed her lips on mine for a brief second, pulling back before I knew what she was doing.

“I had to try something. Sorry,” she apologized. “Night, Vinyl.” With that, she stumbled into the bedroom, leaving me on the couch slightly confused, but strangely..... satisfied.

Author's Note

Alrighty this is done and posted! I'm gonna try to post on Tuesday from now on. I might not update every Tuesday, but my official day of updating is going to (hopefully) be on Tuesday. Hope you all liked this chapter. The next one will be typed and edited by Tuesday.

Dropping By

Weeks passed and Octy had no memory of kissing me. I never brought it up-not that I had the chance to anyway; all Octavia could talk about was her parents’ divorce. If I even tried to change the topic, she would say I was inconsiderate and go right back to whining.

“Brassy says that her parents got divorced when she was twelve, and she turned out fine, but Symphony says she would simply die if her parents split up. Lyra and Bon Bon say that they never got the chance to really know their parents, but a divorce would rattle them up. I always thought my parents were so happy!”

“Octy, come on, it’s just a divorce. It’s part of life,” I said one morning. Octy’s lavender eyes shot daggers at me.

“Ruffians get divorces, Vinyl. Highly respected Canterlot ponies, however, do not. What do you know of divorce? I don’t recall your father dropping by to tell you he’s divorcing your mother.” I felt something inside me snap. I suddenly wanted to hurt Octy. Badly.

“My mother has been dead since I was a foal.” Octavia’s face softened.

“I...Vinyl, I’m sorry. I forgot...”

“Of course you forgot,” I spat. I had put up with weeks of Octy whining, but this was too much for even me to handle. “It doesn’t personally affect you. It doesn’t matter that my mom is dead, because poor little Octy’s mommy and daddy aren’t in love anymore. Who cares that I had to grow up without a mom? Poor little Octy’s mommy is moving out. Vinyl had to watch as her mom got sick. Vinyl had to watch her dad fall apart. Vinyl had to watch her mom die, but Octy has to watch her mommy move to a different mansion.”

“Vinyl, this is quite uncalled for,” Octavia said sternly. “You never discuss it, so naturally, it slipped my mind.”

“It’s easy to forget when you’re too busy crying over your stupid problems. Oh no, I’m a fillyfooler. Everypony bucking loves you. Oh, a stallion wants me to have dinner with him, I’m so confused and scared. At least you have friends. Everypony at this school hates me for what I am. When I met you, I thought that I had finally found somepony who didn’t care what I was. I thought that maybe, I had a friend, but no. I’m still that mare who tried to buck a straight pony and you’re some sort of hero for having the ‘courage’ to be a fillyfooler despite your roots.”

“I can’t help that!” the cellist cried. Her lavender eyes were filled with tears. I should have stopped there. I was making the mare I was in love with cry. I should have gone to the room and just stopped, but now that I had started, it felt so good that I just had to finish.

“You think you have it so bad, Octavia, but it’s so much worse for me. You whine about things that I would kill for, thinking that it makes you look loveable and cute. When I first met you, I made this impression of you that I thought you had proved wrong. I was right about you all along. All you are is a bitch.”

Octavia gasped and a single tear rolled down her cheek. I was in shock, and I wanted to take it all back. To tell her that I was the bitch, and that I loved her, and that it would all be okay. But that last word hung in the air, sinking in to both of our memories and shattering any friendship we had, taking any shot at a relationship with it. The grey earth pony closed her eyes for a moment before walking towards the door.

“Octy, wait!” I called, but she was already gone.

~XoXo~

I didn’t see Octy for the rest of that week. She spent nearly all her time with Lyra and Bon Bon, Brassy, and Symphony and Concerto. I wanted to apologize, but I never got the chance.

I was working on one of my dubtrot pieces, waiting for a rare occasion when Octy was home, when there was a knock on the door. I groaned, pausing my work and opening the door with vivid blue magic.

“Is this the home of Octavia Philharmonica?” a white pegasus with a grey mane tied in a high bun asked. Her cutie mark was a clipboard and her steely blue eyes screamed ‘I’m-nearly-forty-and-I’m-still-a-virgin.’

“Yeah, who’re you?” I snapped, raising my glasses to rest on my horn.

“I am Miss Note Keeper, the head of rooming administration. I am here to inform a Miss Octavia Philharmonica that her new rooming assignment has been confirmed, and she may move in with Miss Lyra Heartstrings as soon as she wishes.”

I slammed the door in the pegasus’ face. There was a noise that sounded like the rustle of wings and I kicked my hind legs back, knocking over a lamp.

I paced, waiting for Octavia to get back. I was reminded of the last time I paced this room. That time, I was concerned for Octy’s safety. This time, I felt like I wouldn’t so much as blink if she came in missing two hooves. The door swung open just as my hooves began to ache.

“You’re moving out,” I said instantly, wasting no time.

“How do you...never mind that. When am I leaving?” Octy’s voice was cold, any hint of emotion gone.

“Whenever you feel like it. The rooming pony said so. I’m sure Lyra will be pleased to hear it.” Octavia nodded, taking a seat on the couch.

“Why are you still here? Get out,” I snapped. I couldn’t stand to see her sitting there when I knew she hated me. There was a dull ache in my chest that starting eating at me as Octavia turned the TV on. She looked so defiant and sexy in that moment that I couldn't stay in the room any longer. I spun around, dashing out the door and slamming it being me.

My hooves carried me to a place I hadn’t been to in four years. It was nearly one in the morning as I stood in front of the door. I caught my breath and raised a hoof, slamming it on the wooden frame.

“Who the hell is calling at this time of-” the door swung open. “-hey, Vinyl...what are you doing here?” I looked into the blue eyes of the first, and only, stallion I had ever been with. Lights looked down on me with confusion as I swallowed down any feelings I harbored for Octavia. The cellist tried to creep into my mind, but I pushed them away and looked up.

“I think I’m ready to give stallions another try.”

Author's Note

12:19am? Totally Tuesday. My clock even says 'Tuesday, April 2nd'. See, it's Tuesday. I am totally allowed to publish this chapter right this very second.

Night, Lights

I sat in Lights’ living room, waiting for him to finish his pacing.

“You’re gay. I was there when the whole ‘Vinyl is gay’ thing got huge. You don’t do stallions. That’s the whole point of you being gay.”

“Well, I...changed my mind,” I lied. The thought of dating a stallion disgusted me. I would rather be with Bee Bop again than date Lights.

“So...you’re serious? You wanna try going out with me?”

“Yeah, I do.” Another lie. Lights bought it. I could have been a spy pony. Agent Vinyl Scratch, master of deception. I blinked, trying to clear my head. Lights seemed to be doing the same thing. He blinked. I waited. He blinked again. I waited some more.

“So you don’t like Octavia? Cuz I had like, 500 bits on you guys hooking up.”

“You were betting on my relationship life?” If it had been any other ponies, I would have found it amusing. Since it was me, I was disgusted.

“Not the point. The point is, everypony on campus thinks you’re hot for that cellist. If you’re suddenly with me...”

“Well then those ponies can just eat their non-existent pants. Now, are you gonna go out with me or not?” I bit my tongue. It had never really occured to me that Lights might actually have another marefriend, or that he might not even like me at all. Lights grinned and slung a hoof around my shoulders.

“Course I would, Scratchie. Now, does the fun part come now or later?” I shook his hoof off me and hit him on the forehead.

“Later, if ever. And don’t call me ‘Scratchie’.”

“Alright, alright.” Lights rolled his eyes. He glanced over at the clock on his wall and his eyes popped out. “It’s like, three in the morning. There’s no way you can get back on campus in time to get any sleep. Wanna crash here? You can sleep on the couch.”

“Gonna let your marefriend sleep on the couch?” I teased, trying to ignore the fact that I was Lights’ marefriend now.

“All right, all right, you can sleep in the bed with me.” Lights winked. I shot him a look and he laughed. “Joking. You can take the guest bed. I had one put in when I got to The Academy. Down the hall to the left. It has its own bathroom, too.”

“Thanks, Lights.” I smiled. “You’re the coolest.”

“I know,” Lights smirked. I used magic to throw a couch pillow at him as I walked down the hall.

The guest room was small with a black bed and white walls. It looked really boring, but it was fine to crash in for the night.

“What time do you need to be up by? I’ll get us a taxi to The Academy instead of walking.”

“Uh, whatever time is fine,” I called back, poking my head into the bathroom. There was a small shower, a brush, a mirror, and a hole in the ground for toilet uses. I turned the water on and waited for the room to fill with steam. Leaving my glasses on the sink, I stepped into the shower, letting the hot water pour over my mane. The water felt great and I sighed in content. I was happy. I missed having Octavia in my life, but I was convinced I could be happy. I wanted Octavia. I needed Octavia. I couldn’t have Octavia.

Shut up, Scratch, I said to myself as I lathered shampoo into my mane. You’ll never have Octavia. She hates you.

I let the water wash away the shampoo and coated myself in magic. The water dried off instantly and I collapsed into bed. It was soft, but the room smelled too much like paint. My old room smelled like lavender.

No, do not think of Octavia and her sexy lavender body wash. I scolded myself. Lavender was nice, but paint would have to do. Octavia wasn’t my friend anymore. She was moving dorms. She would live with Lyra. I would never smell her lavender-scented goodness again.

The bed seemed to grow softer the longer I lay there. My eyelids grew heavy, but I couldn’t sleep. I had grown used to Octavia playing her cello at night. I missed the sound of that stupid instrument almost as much as I missed Octavia.

Scratch, stop thinking about Octavia! I sighed and turned over in bed, trying to concentrate on other things like the fact that I had a coltfriend. I held back a groan. The whole point of being a fillyfooler was that I did not, under any circumstance, do stallions.

You were with Lights once, I reminded myself. Drunk and confused, but you still slept with him.

“Shut up, brain!” I half-screamed into the pillow. The room stayed silent and paint-smelling. I turned again and tried to get comfortable. Lights turned off the lights in the hall. I closed my eyes. Lights collapsed in his bed across the hall with a loud squeak.

“Night, Scratch!” Lights called from his room. The remaining light that came in from underneath the door went out and the room went completely dark.

“Night, Lights,” I muttered. I turned in the bed again and tried to fall asleep.

Author's Note

This one is short but the next chapter (which I am working on right now) will be longer (maybe) and better (hopefully)

xoxo

Spoke Too Soon

“I just gotta grab something, then we can go,” I said over my shoulder. Lights nodded and I opened the door to my dorm room.

“Vinyl, there you are! I’ve been worried sick. I couldn’t sleep and Lyra and Symphony had to come over for hours...where were you?”

“Octavia?” I looked at the couch in shock. Octavia was there, her eyes pink from not sleeping. “What’re you doing here?”

“I live here,” the cellist said simply.

“You live with Lyra. You moved.” I tried blinking. I was almost positive that Octavia was not on my couch.

“No, I considered living with Lyra. She has the space since Bee Bop moved to an apartment to be with Money Shot. I chose to stay here, however, to remain with you. I’ve had a lot of time to think. You were right. I was very inconsiderate.”

I was ready to hug her, plant kisses along her cheek, and tell her that I was in the wrong, but something stopped me. Forgiving her for being worried about her parents getting divorced was fine. I could forgive that. Forgiving her for forgetting about my mom was hard. In all of Equestria, only a few ponies remembered her. Even less actually missed her.

“I...”

“Scratch, let’s go! We’ll be late and Beats is gonna kill us if we show up late again,” Lights called from the hall. Octavia’s eyes shot to the door.

“Who’s out there?” She asked.

“Neon Lights,” I said quickly. “He’s a friend.”

“Scratchie, babe, hurry up!” Lights called again.

“Scratchie? Babe?” Octavia looked confused.

“A close friend. More like a coltfriend really.” I tried to act like I didn’t care, but Octy’s face broke my stone cold DJ heart. Her eyes looked watery and she bit her lower lip.

“You’re a fillyfooler,” Octavia said softly. “You like mares.”

“That’s the old Vinyl,” I replied. “The new Vinyl is into stallions.”

“But I...never mind. I’ll move into Lyra’s dorm during lunch so that you and Neon Lights can be alone when he comes over. Goodbye, Vinyl. I’ll see you around.” She started for the door.

“Octy, wait.” She turned back to me with a tiny smile.

“Yes, Vinyl?”

“Don’t tell anypony about me and Lights. We’re going to work out the kinks before we go public.”

“Oh...alright.” Octavia sighed and left the room. Lights pushed past the door and into the dorm.

“Let’s get going. At this rate, we’ll have to teleport to class.” The stallion nudged my shoulder and I smiled weakly.

“You go on ahead. I’m not going to class today. I don’t feel too hot.” It wasn’t a lie really. Seeing Octavia and watching her leave had taken something out of me.

“You gonna be alright?” Lights raised his glasses, looking concerned.

“I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep. I’ll find you after classes. We’ll get a smo...a frozen yogurt.” I didn’t want to get smoothies. That was something Octy and I did.

“See you, Scratch.” Lights kissed my cheek and left the dorm. I waited until I could no longer hear him in the hall before I left with one destination in mind.

Nopony in the streets questioned why I wasn’t at school. In the last few months, I had finally started to look my age. Instead of looking like a high schooler ditching first period, I looked like the average mare off doing her morning shopping.

The bouncer at the club let me in without any issue. Even this early, the place was lively. I felt like I was stepping into late evening, thanking Celestia that my dad owned the only twenty-four hour club in Equestria.

“Vinyl, this doesn’t look like the Academy.” A voice called over the pounding music.

“Sorry, Dad, but I’ve had a pretty shitty week.” My dad put a hoof around my shoulders.

“Is it just you today?”

“Yup.”

“Come with me to my office. It’s quieter there.”

~XoXo~

Dad stared at me, his eyes concentrating on something behind my shoulder.

“You called her a bitch?”

“Yeah. She said she forgot about Mom.” My voice cracked on mom, but I swallowed back my emotions.

“She had a lot going on. You should talk to her, Vi. She needs a friend.”

“She has friends. Lyra, Bon Bon, Symphony, Brassy, and whoever else is in that damned orchestra.”

“She loves you, Vi. The way you describe it, she was pretty torn up when you said you were with that stallion. I’m willing to bet the entire club that this filly is into you.”

“No she’s not. Even if she was, I’m with Lights now.”

“That stallion you slept with when you were fourteen?” Dad asked. I looked down and my glasses slid off my nose and onto the chair.

“I forgot you knew about that. That’s not important though.”

“Do you love Octavia?”

“Do I...what? Dad, that doesn’t matter. I have a coltfriend,” I said stubbornly.

“Are you in love with Octavia Philharmonica? It’s a yes or no question, Vinyl.” Dad stared at me, waiting for the answer he already knew. I nodded my head.

“Full sentences, Vi.”

“I’m in love with Octy,” I mumbled.

“And Lights?”

“I’m not romantically or sexually interested in him.”

“You know what you gotta do, right?” I nodded and Dad ruffled my mane, kissing my forehead. “You’re a good kid, Vi. Mom would be proud of you.”

“I miss her,” I said softly. Tears clouded my eyes, but I refused to cry.
“I miss her too, Vi,” Dad replied in a whisper. “I miss her too.”

~XoXo~

The club lights flashed as I took a swallow of my drink. Lights was working the DJ booth and I sat at the bar, waiting for him to finish his set.

“Cheer up, Vi. You’ve never been so depressed while drinking.” The bartender winked at me as he refilled my glass. He knew good and well that I wasn’t 21, but, because I was Rec’s kid, he was making an exception.

“Sorry, Brew. I’m just loaded with stuff.” I slurped the foam out of my glass and sighed. The cider was weak, but I had enough in me to work up a decent buzz.

A grey mare walked in and I was about to call her over when I saw that her cutie mark was a heart, not a treble clef. The music changed to more upbeat than dubtrot and Lights slid in beside me.

“Rec’s got Pinks on DJ duty. She’s trying to find her party calling before she heads back to Ponyville.” Lights shrugged, then noticed my glass. “You’re in college and you’re still on cider? You drank stronger stuff when we were kids!” I didn’t remind him that he had given me the stronger stuff.

Lights tapped the bar twice and Brew replaced my cider with something bright orange that smelled of some pretty strong stuff.

“To us,” Lights smiled, raising his own orange drink. I raised mine, watching the liquid swirl inside the bright blue aura.

“A whole week of not killing each other,” I teased. I ignored the voice in my head that told me the relationship should have ended right after my talk with my dad. There had just been too much going on and no time to sneak in a ‘so-I’m-still-gay, hope-we-can-be-friends’ conversation. Our glasses clinked, sloshing their contents over the sides, and we downed them in one.

~XoXo~

Lights and I stumbled into my dorm and I collapsed in a fit of giggles on the couch. Lights lifted me into the air and carried me to my bedroom, letting me fall to the bed.

“You alright, Scratch?” Lights asked, looking concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I hiccuped. “I’ll have a bitch of a hangover tomorrow, but I’ll be fine.”

“I should stay here,” Lights said. I wanted to protest, but I figured it would be better than spending the night alone. Besides, now I could finally do what Dad wanted and get out of the relationship. I could still win Octavia back.

“We gotta talk,” I slurred.

“In the morning.” Lights countered. “Go to sleep. I’ll sleep on the couch.” Lights used his magic to make sure I was tucked into bed before he left the room. I heard the couch strain as it took his weight and all the lights went out. I tossed around for a bit, still unused to sleeping without Octavia’s cello music through my head. A few bars from one of her Beethoofen pieces was swirling around my brain, but whatever Lights had made me drink was pushing the melody away.

I could hear Lights snoring in the other room. The sound of another pony in the room was soothing, even though I knew it wasn’t Octavia. Before long, the sounds Lights made lulled me into a sleepy state.

“Night, Octy,” I muttered. As my eyelids drooped, I made up my mind. As soon as I woke up, I would go get some breakfast and explain to Lights that I couldn’t date him. I would confess that I loved Octavia, and I would do everything I could to get her to like me again.

I would have Octavia tomorrow, no matter what got in the way.

Author's Note

So it isn't Tuesday, but this is last Tuesday's chapter, posting on a Saturday, because I was unable to edit it properly and get it posted until today. Sorry for the wait, but I'm working on the next chapter now and that will be up either this Tuesday or next Tuesday.

Misunderstandings

I woke up with a dull throbbing in my head. I groaned, rolling over and trying to get back to sleep, but the sun streaming in from the windows kept getting in my eyes.

“Alright, I’m up!” I grumbled, rolling out of bed. In the other room, I could hear somepony snoring. My mind flashed back to Lights crashing at my place. Unfortunately, the memory also brought back thoughts of Octy officially moving out. I snuck around her side of the room a bit, but everything was gone. If there was any hope of me ever winning Octavia back, I would have to act now.

The living room was still dark, but sunlight was trying to break its way inside. Lights was passed out on the couch, his glasses askew and drool dangling from the corner of his mouth. A loud snore escaped him and I wrinkled my nose, comparing Lights to Octavia. When she slept, she curled up in a neat little ball and made little snuffling noises in her sleep.

“Wake up,” I said, prodding Lights in the ribs. “We need to talk about something.” Lights moaned and rolled over, waving me away with his hoof.

“Lemme sleep,” he whined. I snorted and levitated him off the couch.

“This is important.” I snapped. “Wake. Up.” I let Lights fall to the floor and he sprang upwards.

“What the buck, Scratch?”

“Good, you’re awake. Now we can talk.” Lights rubbed his head and fixed his glasses.

“Can’t we talk at breakfast?” Lights asked. I bit my lower lip, scuffing the ground with my hoof. I’d wanted to end things in private, to make things easier, but I couldn’t just say no.

“Yeah...I’ll just grab my glasses then we can go.” I sighed and started heading back to my room when I heard a knock on the door. I swung it open with magic, not caring who it was. I figured it was just Lyra coming to talk about Octy.

“I’m here for the details on Octavi...well, hello. I didn’t think you lived on campus.” My eyes went wide and I froze in place. The voice was one I would recognize anywhere.

“I don’t. I was just hanging out with Scratch here. I ended up crashing on the couch.” Lights said. “I’ll meet you in the cafe, Scratch.” Lights left the room, the door shutting with a click behind him.

I turned around, my eyes narrowing at the sight of Bee Bop. The earth pony looked at me, a glint in her eyes.

“Hello, Vinyl. I hear you had company last night. And here I was looking for a story on why Octavia moved out. I guess I know the reason. I can see the headlines now. ‘Vinyl Scratch: Is she really the pony you think she is?’.”

“It isn’t like that. I’m still gay as can be. At least I’m open about it.” I snapped.

“Open, Scratch? Really? If I remember correctly, you’ve been spending a lot of time with that stallion. Nopony else has figured it out, but I know that you’re seeing him. I don’t know why, but you’re trying to play straight,” Bee smirked at me. “And I’m going to figure out why.”

~XoXo~

I looked around the crowded cafe, my untouched cinnamon roll growing colder by the second. Lights was finishing up his third donut.

“So, what’d you wanna talk about?” Lights asked, wiping powdered sugar off his mouth.

“Let’s start with you. What’s up with you?” I asked. Something was stopping me from telling Lights now that I’d talked to Bee Bop. Something about her and her photographer coltfriend made me uneasy.

“Other than having the best week of my life?”

“What’s been so great about this week? It’s been school and homework.”

“I’ve been with you. For four years, I’ve been thinking about what I did wrong to turn you gay. I thought this was my fault or something. I thought you were so disgusted by me that you’d rather be with mares for the rest of your life. I haven’t been with anypony since you, Scratch.”

“I know that’s a lie. Didn’t you have a think with Pinkie?”

“No, the papers thought I did, but me and Pinks are just friends. I didn’t want to be with any other mare. I kept holding on to this impossibility that you would come back for some reason. When you showed up at my door last week...I can’t even begin to explain how happy I was.”

“Well, now that you’ve said that...”

“No, I’ve started, I might as well finish.”

“But I need to-”

“I’m almost done, I swear.”

“Lights, this is import-”

“I love you, Vinyl.” There it was, the phrase that would make me feel like a bitch when I told him.

“Idon’tloveyou.” I said quickly. Lights looked at me.

“What?” He asked. “I thought you came to me because...well...”

“I came to you to get my head cleared. I needed to forget somepony. It...it didn’t work. I miss her more than I thought I would.”

“It’s Octavia, isn’t it?” Lights’ voice cracked. “You’re in love with her, and you used me to try and get away from her.” He didn’t look like his usual self. His mouth was set and from what I could see, his eyes were stony.

“I’m sorry, but...”

“No, Scratch. You having a drunken fling then running out, I can take that. You telling me you’d never go out with me because you were gay, I can take that too. But you coming to my house in the middle of the night telling me you want to be my marefriend, then telling me that you’ve been using me all week? That isn’t gonna fly, Scratch.”

“Look, Lights, I’m sorry, okay? I know I shouldn’t have led you on, but I was mad and I needed to do something to clear my head. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah? Well I guess I wasn’t thinking either. ‘I’m ready to give stallions another try’? I must be pretty stupid, right, Scratch? That’s why you came after me. Well I’m not gonna put up with it. Bye, Scratch. See you in class.” Lights stood up and left the cafe. leaving me sitting at the table alone. All around the cafe, people were staring at me, watching Lights walk away. At a far table, Bee Bop was scribbling furiously, a pencil gripped in her mouth so tightly I was surprised it didn’t snap in half. The pony looked up, winked, and went back to writing. My horn sparked, but I didn’t react. At least, I didn’t react in front of her. I bit the inside of my cheek and ran from the cafe, trying to make it back to my room before I could cry. Vinyl Scratch did not cry in front of anypony, especially not for something as small as losing a coltfriend.

I walked back into the room, prepared to collapse on the couch and not move all weekend, but there was already somepony sitting on it.

Author's Note

I'll try to be a little more regular on updates now that I have regular access to a functioning computer, but it belongs to my dad, so I have limited access. I'm so so so so so sorry about the long wait.

Oh! And thanks for 200 watchers/followers! I love you guys :3

To Be Bee

“What’s your problem?” The pony snapped. “Kicking Octavia out, sleeping with random stallions--”

“Woah, hold up,” I snapped. “Octy moved out on her own, and I haven’t slept with any stallions,” Recently, I added in my head. Lyra scoffed.

“Yeah right. I ran into Bee on the way over here. She said you had a stallion in your room. He stayed the night.”

“He slept on the couch. I didn’t sleep with him. Since when are you and Bee all buddy buddy again?” Last I heard, Lyra and Bee had gone their separate ways because Bee had decided to get herself a nice little beard. Lyra was supposed to hate the stupid Earth pony and be happy with Bon-Bon.

“We’re not,” Lyra muttered softly. “She just mentioned it when she walked by. She thought I was over here for...something else.” Lyra shuddered. I wrinkled my nose, but didn’t say anything on the topic. Lyra and sex didn’t really go together in my mind.

“So why’re you here, besides accusing me of things I didn’t do?” I said quickly, changing the subject. “I know Octy didn’t send you. She’s too proud for that.”

“Octavia isn’t even on campus,” Lyra said with an eyeroll. “She went into the city for a few days, to be with her dad. She’s helping him get settled now that he’s moved out. Didn’t she tell you?”

“Octy doesn’t talk to me much these days,” I grumbled.

“Oh. Well yeah, no, I’m only here because...well, because of Bee. I’m not friends with her or anything, but you’re starting to act like her. A coltfriend, Vinyl, really?” I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about for a second. The events from the day had been whirling in my head, making focus practically impossible. After a few seconds, it clicked.

“Lights isn’t my coltfriend. He’s not even my friend anymore,” my heart ached at the thought. Just because I’d never been in love with Lights didn’t mean I hadn’t cared about him. He’d been one of my best friends -- my only friend.

“You know this makes you look bad? With Bee it’s not too bad because nopony but me, you, and Tavi know that she’s gay.The whole campus knows you’re a fillyfooler, and now you’re suddenly all over a stallion. You look...not good.”

“What does Bee have to do with this?”

“She talked to me a few days ago,” Lyra admitted. “She misses me, but I have Bonnie, so we just talked. She had a lot to say about you.”

“Like what?” I asked. Nothing Bee had to say could be good. Lyra shook her head.

“You have to ask her that. You should talk to her. I...I actually understand her now that she’s talked to me. I feel bad for her even,” I snorted loudly.

“Feel bad for Bee? No chance in hell,” I laughed at the thought. “I’m more likely to become a Princess of Equestria.”

“Just talk to her, will you? You might learn something. You can at least figure out why she hates you so much.”

“She’s a bitch, that’s why.” The chances of Bee talking to me and telling me all her little secrets were slim. The chances I would want to hear her reasoning were nonexistent. Nothing that Bee Bop had to say interested me in the slightest.

~XoXo~

I raised a hoof and knocked three times on the door. I was tempted to run, but I knew Lyra would just march me right back here the first chance she got. The door swung open after a full minute and the mare standing there looked confused.

“What do you want, Scratch?” Bee asked, her eyes narrowing. I thought about turning around and planting my back hooves in her muzzle, but I figured that would just make everything worse. I ground my teeth together when I answered.

“I want to talk, no strings attached. Pure privacy, just lay everything out without worrying that it’ll be spilled all over school.” I said the words in one breath, but Bee seemed to get it. Her expression changed to one I’d never seen on Bee’s face before, even before she hated me.

“Lyra told you I talked to her, didn’t she?” She asked. I nodded and Bee opened the door wider. “I won’t spill your secrets this one time,” Normally I wouldn’t trust the mare, but there was sincerity in her tone. I nodded again, my throat catching. I didn’t want to say anything to this pony unless I absolutely had to.

Bee led me through the messy apartment that she currently shared with her coltfriend, Money Shot. I figured he was out somewhere as Bee led me into a bedroom. I kept my guard up as she sat on her bed. I opted for the floor and stared directly at Bee, searching her pink eyes for any sign of treachery.

“How much did Lyra tell you?” Bee finally asked. She seemed to be trying to stare at my eyes, and I was glad I’d worn my sunglasses.

“She didn’t tell me anything,” I shrugged. “She said she would leave all of that to you, if I decided to come down here,” I left out the part about Lyra marching me halfway across campus before I chose to come here alone. Bee looked a lot more relaxed and I wondered if I would’ve gotten more out of her if I had lied. As much as I hated the pony sitting in front of me, I wanted to know what she could possibly have to say to make Lyra feel bad for her.

“I guess I’ll start from the beginning then,” Bee sighed as if the thought bothered her.

“Wait, you’re actually going to talk to me?”

“Of course,” Bee seemed shocked. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, feigning cluelessness. “Maybe because you hate me?” Bee smiled a sad little smile and shook her head.

“I don’t hate you, Vinyl. I’ll explain if you’re willing to listen. It’s a really long story,” I regretted sitting on the floor, but it was too late to get on the bed now. I just nodded, trying to adjust my limbs so I was more comfortable. Bee waited until I’d stopped fidgeting to start her story.

“Remember when we met back in like, the seventh grade? We started hanging out all the time, before everypony was putting labels on each other, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. You told me you thought you were gay and I said that if you were gay, I’d be gay so you weren’t the only one.” As much as I hated Bee now, it was still nice remembering how close we’d been.

“Well, that’s when this whole mess started. After that conversation, when we got together,”

“We got together in like, 9th grade,” I knew that she knew, but I felt the need to comment. Octy had said something about it once. A com-something need to butt-in.

“I know,” Bee inhaled and started again. “Anyway, we didn’t really go out that long. You know that part,” I nodded. I’d wanted everypony to know I cared about Bee, she didn’t want to come out. We fought over it for months and she dumped me. It was all over by 10th grade. By senior year, she had Lyra.

“After that?” I asked.

“I went out with Lyra. I wasn’t really happy with Lyra. She’s a great mare, but I didn’t love her. I wanted so badly to be straight, like every normal pony. That’s why I’m with Money Shot. I figure if I’m with him long enough, I’ll be interested in him. I’ll be straight,”

“It doesn’t work that way, Bee,” I thought about Lights. Sure, I was only with him for a week, but no amount of time could make me love him the way he had loved me. I could prove that it really wasn’t a choice. You were stuck with it, whether you liked it or not.

“I know that, but it’s easier for me if I hope. If I can make myself believe that I’m in love with him, maybe I will be after a while. Anyway, back to my story. After we broke up, I did a lot of thinking. I could come out and be with you again, or I could experiment and see how ponies reacted to being gay. I outed you. It was harsh, but I thought that if everypony loved you, I’d be free to love you too. I told everypony you were a fillyfooler.

“Obviously, that didn’t turn out the way I thought. Everypony hated you, and it was easier to hate you too. I made myself hate you because it was easy. I was scared, of course. I realized later that you could make my life just as miserable. I waited for the day that you decided to turn things around and force everything on me, the way I’d done to you.

“For some reason, you didn’t. You took the abuse I forced on you and you were actually proud of it. You didn’t care that everyone hated you. You did well for yourself. You got yourself into this school. I respected you, but I didn’t know how to show it. Instead, I kept trying to ruin your life. It was easier than apologizing, and it seemed better than just dropping out of your life forever. I wanted to be part of your life, Vinyl, I just didn’t know how to be."

Bee paused for a while and waited for me to say something. I didn't know what I could say to any of that. The silence settled around us and I coughed, unsure of what came next. I couldn’t forgive her. She had ruined everything for me. Forgiving her wasn’t an option. Hating her wasn’t one either. If I left here hating her, I would feel like a bigger bitch than she had been. I realized what Lyra had meant about feeling bad for Bee. I wasn’t that far, but I felt something for my ex-marefriend.

“I’m sorry,” Bee said after a long while.

“Yeah, I know.” More silence. Bee’s eyes never left me, and she didn’t seem to be blinking. I tried to look anywhere but at her. The curtains were a disgusting shade of grey. The floor was scuffed by years of hooves walking over the surface. The bed Bee was sitting on was sagging in the middle from years of use.

“I understand if you still hate me. I’ll still pretend to hate you in public if it makes it easier,”

“I don’t hate you,” I said quickly. “And you could tone down on the hating me thing a bit. Stop putting me in the papers,”

“I could do that,” Bee replied. I finally looked at her and she was visibly less tense than she had been when we came into the room.

“And lay off Octy, too.” I added, remembering the visit from Octy’s mother.

“I never wanted to hurt Octavia,” Bee said quietly. “I knew you liked her. I was trying to get to you.” I rolled my eyes. Had every single pony on campus known I liked Octy except for Octy herself?

“I guess it all worked out in the end,” I said, trying to figure out what one said in this situation. “Her dad is leaving her mom. I guess it sounds bad, but her mom’s a homophobic-”

“I don’t wanna call anypony names,” Bee said quickly. I snorted and the mare looked down at the bed sheets. “I don’t want to call anypony else names,” she corrected. Bee looked up again, catching my sunglass-covered eyes.

“This is all between us, right?”

“Of course,” Bee said, shaking her head eagerly. I blinked and inhaled.

“I can sorta see why you’re such a terrible pony all the time. I don’t forgive you, but I don’t totally blame you either. It’s easy for me because I was forced to get used to it. You didn’t go through that, so you wouldn’t know. But you saw how they reacted to Octavia. They didn’t care nearly as much. Ponies now are a lot more open to this sort of thing. They weren’t as nice when you outed me. If you came out now, they wouldn’t care as much. Everypony still hates me because they hated me coming into school. Besides, I’ve made friends. You’d make friends too, if you lost any.”

“I don’t have any friends,” Bee whispered.

“Of course you have friends,” I found myself smiling, despite the back of my brain screaming that I should throw things and run.

“I lost all my friends when I outed you. They all hated you, but they hated me too. They knew what I did was uncool. I had Lyra, when we got to this school, but I lost her too. Money Shot isn’t even my friend. All he wants from me is something I’m not willing to give. Name one friend I have, Vinyl.”

I looked at Bee, still smiling. Every part of me screamed that I was being stupid. I wanted to tell her she was right, and that everypony hated her, then get out of there faster than Spitfire could fly. Instead, the tiny, Octy-inspired part of my brain urged me on.

“You have me.”

New Beginings

I stared at my music sheets, my head throbbing angrily. I hadn’t been able to get any new ideas since talking to Bee, and I was getting annoyed. My entire life was based off music, and the cutie mark on my flank proved it. I tossed out another scratched out sheet and groaned, taking another painkiller.

“Why can’t I get this right?” I snapped, kicking my chair across the room. It rolled away and crashed into the wall loudly. If Octavia were here, she’d be yelling at me for making noise. She wasn’t here though. She was with Lyra and Bonnie, entertaining Lyra’s sister from Ponyville. I put my headphones over my ears, trying to use my old stuff as inspiration.

Nothing was working. I had been run dry, and I hadn't even started my career yet. I turned in early for the third night in a row, slightly discouraged. Octavia never seemed to have this problem. When she lived here, she was writing new music every other night. If Lyra was right, Octy was still writing amazing music and playing it on her damned cello every night.

I sat up in bed, my horn sparking in excitement. The cello. That was Octy’s secret. She could write all sorts of different songs because she played a cello. She didn’t have to stick within the likes of dubtrot. Her music could do anything. I had to make upbeat dance music, and I wasn’t feeling upbeat. I’d heard Octavia playing sad pieces just hours after playing bouncy, classical dance music. She had more freedom with her stupid cello than I did with my endless possibilities of electronic beats. Besides, if an earth pony like Octy could learn to play the cello, a unicorn like me would have no problems mastering the thing.

~XoXo~

Somepony should have told me that cellos are expensive. Nearly three hundred bits for a slightly used cello, and that was just for the cello itself. The case was an extra fifty and lessons were ‘to be determined’. Most of the money I had earned working for Dad at the club went into getting a cello that I didn’t even think I wanted. I just needed to get something written before I went insane.

“Miss Scratch?” The stallion at the counter said, trying to sound polite. “Are you going to be taking our lessons? We’ll need you to sign the paperwork now, so we can get you on the schedule.” He said ‘schedule’ in the typical Canterlot accent and I cringed. Octy said it the same way. I cringed again thinking about Octy. I cringed again thinking about how it hurt to think about Octy.

“I’ll take the lessons,” I said, taking the pen in my magical grip. “Where do I sign?” The stallion tapped a line with his hoof and I scribbled my name on the line with a smile.

“And what time will you be available, Miss Scratch?”

“I guess five. That’s usually when I get finished with classes and homework,” Like I ever actually do the homework.
“I’m sorry, Miss Scratch,” the stallion said, looking truly sorry. “I’m afraid the five o’clock slot has been filled for the time being. Would six work or shall we find another time?”

“Six is great,” I said quickly, not really caring. I just wanted to get good enough to start writing again. “Do I just come back here or...?” I looked around the music store. It seemed too small for lessons, but I was pretty sure there were rooms in the back for the ponies rich enough to get lessons.

“The only lessons we have here are for piano,” the stallion replied. “Our lessons for everything else are actually held in a different building. We’re located at 426 North Street. Do you need me to give you directions?”

“Nah, my dad works across the street,” I replied, picturing the building. It seemed shabby for lessons, but who was I to judge? I’d lived in a pretty shabby place until Dad opened up the club. “How much is this costing me? I’ve never been told ‘to be determined’ when paying before.”

“Well, that depends, Miss Scratch,” the stallion said with a smile that made me regret asking. “What is your skill level as far as the cello is concerned?”

“I’ve watched my old roommate play a few times,” I said, thinking about all the times I had spent watching Octy’s hooves across the instrument. The way her strong earth pony hooves moved flawlessly across the strings, or the way her mane cascaded down across her face when she was concentrating...

“But you’ve never played a cello before, correct?” The stallion’s question pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, never played one. I’m a DJ, so I’m really more into the whole electronic thing,”

“What made you decide to switch over to the cello of all things?” The stallion asked as he filled in the paperwork for my lessons.

“I needed a change of pace,” I shrugged. “So, how much?”

“Well, for beginners such as yourself, it would be around fifty bits for each hour long lesson. The further you go into the lessons, the more expensive the classes will become, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem, Miss Scratch?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said. Fifty bits was easy to come by with my profession, and the lessons were pretty important to writing music. “Six, right?”

“That is correct, Miss Scratch,”

“Please,” I said with an attempt at a friendly smile. “Just call me Vinyl,”

“We will see you at six o’clock sharp starting Monday evening, Vinyl,” the stallion smiled. I passed him a bag of bits and adjusted my new cello on my back, groaning under it’s weight. How Octavia, with her slender build and lithe looking form, could carry this thing was beyond me. I used the help of my magic and left the shop, a string of possibilities forming in my mind.

~XoXo~

The cello sat in the corner of my room over the weekend, collecting dust. I had cleared out my working space, placing my laptop in its case and stowing it under my bed to have enough room for the empty sheets that would soon be filled with cello music. I’d seen Octy write music for her cello, and it didn’t seem too different from the way I wrote out the music to remix, so I figured I could just write out anything I wanted and play it back later. I had three measures of a slow piece written out before I realized that I had no idea what it would actually sound like. The only cello pieces I could hear in my head were ones that Octavia had played before she moved out.

I decided that no harm could come if I just picked up the cello and tried playing. It couldn’t be that hard, if an earth pony could do it. Horns made everything so much easier, I decided as I pulled the cello out of its case. I wasn’t entirely sure what Octavia did to prep the thing, but the stallion who sold it to me had tuned it before putting it in the case. I took the stick thingy in one hoof and sliding it across the strings, wincing at the screechy noise it made. Octy had never had that problem, I was sure. She was just born knowing how to make music.

“Alrighty then, cello,” I said aloud, putting on my most serious game face. “It’s just me and you. Let’s show Octy what we can do.”

Author's Note

This took way too long to update, but I won't give you excuses. I'm lazy and busy with school. I'm just wrapping up a vacation, and while everyone else is out sledding (I stayed behind since I'm still recovering from crashing into a tree on a snowmobile (I could have died apparently, but hey I'm fine now...yay)) I decided to update stories and all that shiz. So yeah...here you go.

In Which Everything is (Almost) Tied Up in a Neat Little Package

I readjusted the damn cello about a million times as I walked towards the club. It was only five, but I figured I could stop by and mooch a few drinks off of Dad before my lesson actually started. I pushed through the doors backward, closing my eyes as the beats filled my ears. I couldn’t help but bob my head in time to the music as I made my way to the back, nodding at the guard pony.

“Evening, Miss Scratch.” The stallion said as I knocked on the door to Dad’s office.

“It’s Vinyl, actually. None of this Miss Scratch bull, kay?”

“Whatcha got there, Vinyl?” The stallion gestured to my cello and I shrugged as best I could.

“Private project,” I said and the door opened. My dad looked confused at first, wondering what I was doing there, but he smiled widely.

“Vi, come on in,” he said, not commenting on my cello. He was used to my odd projects. My DJ gig started out as an odd project. I dropped the cello in the corner and stretched out my back, Dad poured me a drink and slid it across his desk. I knocked it back and checked the clock on his wall. I still had plenty of time.

“Anything new?” Dad asked, pouring his own drink.

“Got a cello,” I said, stating the obvious. “Since I’ve drifted away from Octy, I thought learning to play the cello would help me get her back. I’ve learned a bit since I was here last.”

“So you haven’t told her you’re in love with her?”

“No, but I ended things with Lights, like you said I should.” I poured myself a second drink and Dad locked the bottle back in his personal cabinet. He was okay with me drinking, but he wasn’t gonna be the one to give me too much. We talked for a while, and I mentioned my talk with Bee, and how my writer’s block had inspired me to go out on a whim and buy a cello. He seemed pissed that I blew so much money on something he could have gotten for me, but I just shrugged.

“I gotta get going,” I said, looking up at the clock. “My lesson starts in ten minutes. See ya later, Dad.” I grabbed my cello and levitated it just above my back.

“Good luck, Vi,” Dad said, opening up his office door. “Love ya, Kiddo.”

“Love you too, Dad.” I replied. I said bye to the guard stallion and made my way back out onto the street. The sun was lowering, turning the sky a pale orangey color. Stars were starting to shine and I exhaled, crossing the street. I still had some time, so I figured I would just sit outside until whoever the five o’clock was left.

I ended up only waiting a few seconds. There was a tinkling little bell and a pony walked out, calling over her shoulder to whoever was inside.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” The pony adjusted her cello and looked up, her eyes unblinking.

“Octy,” I said, staring into the lavender eyes I loved. “You’re the five o’clock.”

“You don’t play the cello,” Octavia said, staring at the cello on my back. “You despise the cello. You’re a dubtrot pony. You make loud, annoying wubs.”

“I’ve had a change of heart. I talked to Bee recently. She’s a bitter little bitch, and I’m not letting that happen to me. From now on, I’m Vinyl Scratch, Classical Music Extraordinaire. Better watch your back, Octy, because I’m gonna steal your spot as best cellist on campus.” Octavia actually smiled and my stomach flopped over. Her smile was gorgeous.

“How’re your parents? How are you?” I asked, remembering the fight we’d had. Words had been said, actions had been regretted. Octy shrugged.

“The divorce is finalized. I’m actually feeling a lot better. My mother came to visit me while Lyra’s sister was in town. She told me she’d signed me up for an appointment with a doctor, to cure me. I haven’t spoken to her since.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “About that night.”

“I know. I’m sorry too.” We stood there in silence for a while, just staring at each other. I thought about how long it had been since I last spoke to her.

“How’s Neon Lights?” Octavia asked after a while.

“Hates me, I think. I told him the truth. That ‘New Vinyl Scratch’ bullshit was pretty much just that. Bullshit. I was never into stallions. This has been great, but I’m running late. Cello lessons, you know?”

“Of course. Have fun, Vinyl. If you’d like, I can sit in, and afterwards, we can go to my favorite cafe. It’s a little out of the way, but they have excellent tea.”

“That sounds pretty nice, actually. Yeah, we should do that.” I smiled and opened the door, using a hoof to dramatically gesture Octy inside.

~XoXo~

“Don’t quit your day job is all I’m saying,” Octy teased. My horrendous cello playing was the current topic of conversation, and I rolled my eyes.

“I just started. I haven’t been playing since before I was toilet trained.”

“You know very well I was playing the cello after I was toilet trained. I didn’t start until the third grade.”

“Whatever,” I laughed, taking a sip of the tea Octy had ordered me. I didn’t normally drink the stuff, but it was pretty good, and I didn’t wanna look rude in front of Octy now that she was talking to me again.

“For a first try, that was actually impressive. You actually made music for about thirty seconds.”

“I’d like to see you come up with a killer remix on your first go. I’ll let you borrow my computer.”

“I’m sure I could do a better job remixing than you did with the cello.”

I was happy. Octavia was talking to me, and things were going great. We had a chance at fixing our friendship. Of course, I had to open my big fat mouth and ruin it.

“Move back in with me.” I don’t know why I said it. Maybe it was the tea, or maybe it was the way the fans in the cafe were blowing towards me, bringing Octavia’s sexy lavender shampoo smell with it, but I had said it, and I couldn’t take it back.

“Vinyl, I...”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Shit. Sorry.”

“Vinyl,” Octavia said. I looked up at her. There was a small smile on her face. “I’d love to, really, I would, but now isn’t a good time. I’m still working on getting my dad set up in his new place. Mom kicked him out of the house. When things settle down, I’ll happily move back into the dorm.”

“Right, okay. Cool.” At least she wasn’t saying no. Later was always better than no. I finished the last of my tea before it got too cold and went to grab my cello.

“I should go,”

“You don’t have to.”

“But I should.”

“You could stay. Or we could go somewhere.” Octavia looked...sad? She couldn’t be sad. Things were working out for her. “I missed you, Vinyl.”

“I missed you too, but...”

“But what? There shouldn’t be a but, Vinyl! We both know where this is going. We’ve been leading up to this since we met, what’s the point in postponing it anymore, Vinyl? I might as well just say it, because everypony but you seems to know. I love you, Vinyl Scratch.”

The confession hung in the air and I realized that I needed to respond. Octavia was shuffling her hooves and staring at the table, waiting for me to either shoot her down or return her feelings.

“I think I love you too. I don’t know, because I’ve never loved anypony before,” I started. “I do know that I want you to be happy. That’s why I’m taking up cello. You like cello music, and I want you to like me, so that’s why I blew all those bits on learning to play. I know that, when I’m with you, everything seems right. When I’m not with you, I’m angry, and confused, and hurt. I know I love the lavender shampoo smell that usually comes when you’re around. If that’s what love is, then yes, I love you too, Octavia.”

Neither of us seemed to know what to do from there. It felt weird, telling her now that I’d waited all this time. It felt even weirder since we hadn’t spoken in so long. But it was true. I did love her.

“I really should go.” This time, Octavia didn’t stop me. I grabbed my cello and, with one last look at Octavia, I left the cafe.

~XoXo~

The wall hadn’t changed at all in the past three hours. I would know. I had gotten home and just stared at the wall on Octavia’s side of the room. Somepony knocked on the door, but I didn’t moved.

Another knock. I ignored it.

Knock. Ignore.

Knock. Ig-

“Vinyl, are you going to let me back into my room or not?” I knew that voice. She knocked again and I went into the other room, opening the door.

“I thought that you...”

“Lyra told me to move my stuff back.” Octavia shrugged and grabbed one of her bags. “Can you help me with my stuff? I’m not fortunate enough to have a magical appendage.” I grabbed her stuff and carried it into my (no, our) room.

“What changed your mind?”

“Well,” Octavia said with a smile. “I can’t have you ruining the sanctity of cello music. I figured you would need more than one teacher. We’ll have to improve your skills some other time though. It’s late, and there are classes tomorrow. Unless you’ve stopped attending those?”

“I still go to class, Octy. I’m not that bad. It is late though. If you promise to teach me how to not epically suck at the cello, we can hit the hay.”

“Goodnight, Vinyl,” Octavia said. She kissed me quickly before quickly slipping into bed. My face went warm as I, less gracefully, flopped into my own bed.

“Night, Octy.” Love you. I added the last bit in my head, liking the way it sounded. I didn’t say it out loud. I wasn’t sure how Octy would react to that just yet. I stayed up until I could hear her cute little snuffling sounds.

“Love you,” I whispered. She was asleep. She couldn’t hear me. And even if she could, I could pass it off as her dreaming. As I was falling asleep, I could have sworn I heard Octy whisper in her sleep.

“Love you too.”

Author's Note

Look at that, I updated. The story is pretty much almost over. There's two more chapters left that I'm gonna publish, plus an epilogue that I'm not publishing because it's not 100% relevant to the story line. Who knows though? I may change my mind after I publish the last two chapters.

In Which Everything (Really) is Tied Up in a Neat Little Package

I spent the next few weeks just catching up with Octy. She had a lot to say about how her father was doing, but I could tell she was still upset about her mother. I sat there and listened to her talk, nodding and agreeing in all the right places, and making sounds of protest when she talked about things her mother had said. It was pretty much exactly the same as it had been before I flipped out on her. Neither of us brought up the fight, or the fact that we had technically confessed our undying love to each other. It was like nothing had ever really happened. Except the fact that there were now two cellos taking up space in our room.

“I quit,” I said for what felt like the millionth time. “You make this look easy.”

“It’s called practice, Vinyl. Do you think I got where I am today by quitting every time things got hard? No, I kept going, and now, everypony is convinced that I’m going to be invited to join the Canterlot Orchestra.”

That smile. Those eyes. That everything. It encouraged me to play more, but at the same time, all I wanted to do was yell at her - and in a positive sort of way. I groaned inwardly. My head made no sense sometimes.

“Come on now,” Tavi encouraged. “How about we try something a bit more simple?”

“I’ll practice later. I kinda wanna talk right now. I mean, like, actual talking.”

“Is there something concerning you?” Her pretty light purple eyes made it so hard to say anything, so instead, I avoided looking at her. I turned my gaze back to the cello, thinking up the right way to word what I had to say.

“I’ve been thinking a lot. Like, some serious thinking, y’know? And I think I’ve sorta realized something.”

“Oh?”

“I just don’t know where to start,” I continued.

“At the beginning would make the most sense,” she said, in her cute half sarcastic tone.

I can’t help but smile at her witty remark, and I nodded, but tried to keep focused. “Yeah, it’s a really long beginning, though, and none of that matters. Just the little tidbits in between, I guess.” The question raced through my mind.

I found the courage to look at her straight in the eye once again, and I stared at her perfection for a minute before beginning my little speech.

“Octavia,” my heart pounded. My blood raced through my veins. I forgot how to talk for a second. “I-I need to know something. About the other night, the whole confessing our love thing...”

“What about it?”

“We haven’t done anything with it. In all those sappy movies you and Lyra used to watch, the lead ponies would confess their love, make out, and they’d end like that. Together, because they were in love with each other. I realize this isn’t some sort of scripted, planned out storyline. Our life isn’t something set up for hundreds of ponies to enjoy, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have that sort of...closer?”

“Closure, Vinyl. The word you’re looking for is closure.”

“Right, closure. We need that. You love me, I love you. Are we just not going anywhere with that?” There was silence for a moment, and Octy just stared. For a second, I thought that maybe, she was going to leave again. Instead, she kissed me.

She kissed me. For thirty whole seconds, she was mine, and mine alone. It was like a scene right out of a sappy love movie. I could hear the dramatic music swelling in my ears. Octavia Philharmonica, hottest mare I had ever met, was kissing me, Vinyl Scratch. On the mouth.

And damn, was she good.

She pulled away far too quickly for my liking, but it didn’t matter. It was the first of many. It had to be.

“So are we cool?” I stammered, trying not to seem fazed. I figured I wasn’t doing a very good job though. Octavia giggled and kissed the tip of my nose. Obviously, she was experiencing the same type of high that I was.

“I suppose cool is one way to describe it, if you want to put a label on it.”

“If we’re labeling things now, can I suggest something?” I didn’t know what I was doing. The feelings the kiss spread through my body were now taking over. They had control of the hooves I wrapped around Octy. They had control of the kisses I planted along the side of her neck. They took over my mouth, formed words for me. “Be my marefriend, Octy. Officially, I mean.”

“That would be very...cool,” Octavia smiled. I laughed and we kissed again. The second of many.

~XoXo~

“Vinyl, I’m really not sure this is a good idea.”

“My dad loves you, Octy. This’ll be fine.”

“Yes, but just because he loves me doesn’t mean that he’s going to assist-”

“He’ll totally help out! Just give it a shot, Octy!” I rapped on Dad’s office door loudly, and Octy backed away from the door. Dad swung the door open, a huge grin on his face.

“Vi! Great to see you. How’s the cello playing going?”

“Goin’ great, Dad. I’ve got a pretty awesome teacher. I might be getting good enough to start recording some stuff. That’s not why I’m here though.” I glanced at Octy and nodded my head, ushering her inside. She stayed close to me, following me into my dad’s office.

“Octavia, it’s been a while.”

“Yes, indeed it has Mr. Scratch,”

“I’ve told you before, call me Rec,” Dad fiddled with the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a drink and then mixing two more, sliding them to me and Octy. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Octy didn’t say anything. She took a sip of her drink and I rolled my eyes.

“She needs money, to help her dad out. He just moved out and got a new place because Octy’s mom is a terrible pony who hates her own daughter for being gay. Her dad, well, Octy’s dad is totally cool with the whole fillyfooler thing, so he moved out, because it wasn’t worth kicking his wife out of their mansion.”

“We don’t have a mansion, Vinyl.” Octy cut in. I ignored her and continued on.

“Octy’s mom just took her dad’s, her being Octy here, name off all the bank stuff, so he’s broke until he can get himself a stable job. Octy here wants to send him money, and I tried giving her some, but she won’t take charity, and nopony in this city is hiring. Do you have any spare jobs she can take over until her dad gets back on his hooves?”

“It’s perfectly understandable if you don’t, Sir.” Octy added. Dad looked at her for a bit, his gaze darting between me and Octy. Me and Octy. Me. Octy.

“There is one position open,”

“I’ll gladly take it,”

“It requires two ponies. Vi, you could do well with a real job, instead of occasional gigs here and there. You and Octavia can do a duet thing, every Saturday night, from ten to one. I’ll pay well, and you get free drinks. I’ll pretend I don’t know you’re both underage.” Dad winked and I nudged Octy’s shoulder. She smiled at me, and then at Dad.

“I”m very grateful,” she said, beaming.

“Not as grateful as me, Kiddo. You have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for Vi here to get herself a decent marefriend?” Octavia’s face turned pink, and she looked down at her hooves.

“H-how did you know about that? I wasn’t aware Vinyl had said anything.”

“She didn’t have to. I can tell when my kid’s happy, and she’s ecstatic.” It was my turn to turn pink. Dad ruffled my mane up a bit and downed the last of his drink. “You guys start next week. Don’t be late.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Yes, thank you, Mr...I mean, thank you, Rec.” Dad opened up the door and I skipped out, waiting for Octy and throwing a hoof around her shoulders.

“You’ve done pretty great for yourself, Octy. You’ve got the best marefriend in the world, you’ve got a job at the best Club in the world, and you’re probably going to get the best grades in the world at the best Music School in the world, which makes you the best pony in the world. And since I’m dating the best pony in the world, I’m the luckiest mare in the world.” I liked the sound of that. We headed outside, where the hustle and bustle of Canterlot consumed us.

“I’M THE LUCKIEST MARE IN THE WORLD!” I shouted, tilting my head back and facing the sky.

“Vinyl!” Octy cried, looking around to see if anypony had noticed us. Of course they hadn’t. They were all caught up in their own boring lives. How anypony could live without an Octy was beyond me.

A warm beginning-of-summer breeze rolled across the streets and I smiled. It had almost been a full year since I met Octy, and things were looking up. I’d gone into school with no friends, no interest in dating, and a slight annoyance that my roommate was some preppy classical musician. Now, I had Octy, Lyra, BonBon, and, on occasion, Bee. Even most of the ponies that had hated me were mostly friendly. I had the greatest marefriend a pony could have. I was playing a cello for Celestia’s sake (and pretty damn good at it too).

There were still issues, of course. Lights still wouldn’t talk to me, no matter how much I apologized. Octy said he needed time if he was ever going to forgive me. It made sense, but it still sucked. Neon Lights had been a pretty cool pony, and a kickass friend. Even without Lights around, I was still doing okay. The block I’d suffered with my DJing had gone away when Octy had come back into my life. I was still determined to be a better cello player than Octy, like that would ever happen. But there was time. There would always be time. We were young, we were at peace, and we only had a few more years left of school before we could take the music world by storm. We would Octy Pon-3, a classical dubtrot duo. Everypony would know our names. They’d all be dying to catch a glimpse of us as we walked by, swarmed with paparazzi. We would be famous, me and Octy.

Me, and My Cellist.

Author's Note

There's still one more chapter left for this story, but I'm not sure when that'll be up. I've tweaked the ending a bit, so It'll take longer for me to write up the final chapter. Technically, the final chapter is the epilogue. I wrote two. I'm just publishing the one I thought was best. The second one, I may send to a few people I've picked out over the year or so I've been working on these two stories (the first being the prequel to this story). The people I've picked out are the people who have really stood out to me. They had a comment for every chapter, or they gave me a reason to keep going with the story or, in two cases, they're the reason the story ever made it here in the first place. The epilogue that will be posted online should be expected sometime this month, or next month. Hopefully this month. Fingers crossed.

It should be noted that Toni (The Princess Rarity to those who don't know) helped with the beginning of this chapter. I edited a lot of what she wrote, to fit the ending I planned, but she basically wrote the first paragraph, and the opening dialogue.

Epilogue

Octavia stood at the podium, facing her graduating class, a smile on her face. I waved up at her, and her smile grew wider. Her notes were in front of her, and I smiled equally wide as I remembered her, frantically trying to figure out what she would say.

“It’s a very big deal, Vinyl. This speech needs to be perfect.” I had, of course, suggested that she wing the entire thing and just say what came to mind, but that had been a ‘terrible idea’. Everything I suggested was a terrible idea, apparently.

“Octy, when have you ever screwed up a speech?”

“First grade. I said ‘wumb’ instead of ‘dumb’. It was very traumatizing, as you can imagine.”

Octy was full of silly stuff like that. Tiny imperfections that most ponies forgot about, or didn’t put any thought into were Octy’s biggest pet peeves. Today though, I sat beside my graduating class, beaming up at my marefriend, who had gathered her thoughts.

“Four years ago, I was a very different pony. I began my time here as a naive young mare who believed that she was owed something. My only friend here was my cello. I’d never bothered to make friends back in grade school. I had one, but she wasn’t coming here with me. I was alone. A mare with no real experience in the outside world. I was sheltered and, as some may remember, a bit uptight.

“Today, I stand before you as a different mare than I was when I walked through these doors for the first time. I’m more educated in not only my own prefered genre, but in a much wider world of music than I thought existed. I used to think that only Classical music was worth studying. I thought that only my music had a history, and I realize how wrong I was now. Meeting so many wonderful ponies has expanded my own ideas on music. It’s helped me to find a community.

“The biggest change, I would think, is my outlook on life. When I first arrived, I was very set in my ways. A mare and a stallion were, in Celestia’s eyes, the proper couple. Until I met Vinyl. She’s made me into a more open minded pony. When I first found out what Vinyl was, I was disturbed. Now, I know who she is, and she’s helped me to see who I am. And for that, I thank her. Just as I thank everypony here who has helped me to learn who I am.

“Is that not what school is for? To find out who we are? We are told when leaving High School that we are moving into the real world. Yet, here we all are, still in school. Now is the time we are moving into the real world. There is no more for us to be taught. There is still much to learn, but we cannot rely on our teachers to give us the information. We need to seek it ourselves. The growth we’ve made here is only the beginning. There’s a whole world out there for us to explore, and with it, comes a new world inside ourselves. Maybe you still don’t know what you want to do. You’ve taken your pathway, but you don’t want that anymore. Maybe you’ll learn something new, that will change you, and you’ll realize ‘this is what I want with my life.’

“I want you all to take a moment, and look around. Look at the ponies you were friends with when you began here, four years ago. Are they still your friends today? What about somepony you’re friends with now. Were you friends when you started?” I took a second to do what Octy asked. I glanced at Neon Lights, who still wasn’t speaking to me. We locked eyes for a second, and I tried to smile. For a second, he almost smiled back. He turned away, and I looked to Bee. She was smiling, but not at me. Her smile was only for the golden brown earth pony mare sitting beside her. It made me happy to see her coming out of her shell a little bit.

“Now that you’ve had a moment, I want to wrap things up. Sometimes, friendships don’t work out. But many times, those failed friendships lead to something much better in the long run. Losing one friend can result in two more friends. If I take anything away from this school in later years, when my hooves can no longer support my cello, it’s that change is part of life. I want to thank this school for all the changes, and preparing me for many more to come.”

I like to think I clapped the loudest when she was done talking. She smiled and stepped down from the podium and joined me, throwing her hooves around me in a hug. That’s when the hats started flying. We were graduates.

“What’s next?” I asked. Octavia shrugged.

“Who knows? I have that invitation from the Manehatten Orchestra. You have your DJ gig with your dad.”

“There are clubs in Manehatten. I’ll get a job over there. I’ve never been to Manehatten.”

“You’re moving to Manehatten?” Lyra had pushed her way through the crowd to join me and Octy. “Me and Bonnie are going to Ponyville.”

“Why Ponyville?”

“It’s quiet, and that’s where my sister is. She says she can get us a place to live.”

“Your sister, the crazy dentist?”

“She’s not crazy. She’s just…different.”

“Yeah, just like you,” I teased.

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Very funny,” she playfully shot back. “Either way, I’m sure you two will have a blast. We’re all still gonna stay in touch, right?”

"Of course!" Octavia said, offended at the thought that we wouldn't stay in touch.

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." I added.

We all looked to one another, and it was kinda crazy how we were all smiling. These past few years had many ups and downs, but it all resulted into something pretty awesome. I mean, I had my friends, my new life waiting in a new city…and of course, I had my Cellist.

“Hey, Tavi?” I said softly, taking Octavia’s hoof in my own, and looking to her - letting myself get lost in her eyes. The eyes I could look into forever....

She had a cute little blush as she met my gaze, and smiled. “Yes, Vinyl?” I didn’t know what to say. I almost got lost for a minute, but then I found the right words.

“Thanks,” I replied. “For always being there, even when things seemed bad. You’re the best thing I’ve got so far.” She blushed even harder. Yeah, I knew it - I had her nailed.

So I kissed her - and then, in that moment, I realized life was probably going to throw me more punches, but if I got Tavi by my side?

...well, then I have no room to complain.

Author's Note

KISSY SMOOCHY SUPER CHEESY ENDING (~Toni)

Toni wrapped up the story, clearly. I couldn't think of anything not cheesy to end it with, so I had the Queen of Cheesy Endings add the last bit. Very logical, on my part.

But yeah, this is the end, I guess. It feels weird, finishing this. Like, what am I going to do now that Cellist isn't taking up all my time? Obviously, write more lesbian ponies. Mostly sad-fics though. That's all I have planned right now.

~RushingAutumnLeaves~

~Notice~

The laptop is currently in my possession, but I'm really lazy. Like, it's scary how lazy I am. Fear not, school starts soon and that usually gives me motivation to write (it's fanfiction or homework, you do the math) so if I don't have a new chapter up for another long while, expect one when school starts and I'm suddenly struck with so much motivation I just have to write for six hours on end. So yeah. Sorry if you thought this was an update.

*Awaits the pitchforks and insults*