Octavia looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She was currently putting on her new bowtie – or at least attempting to. Every time she thought she was finished, she would find that she had done it up too tight, or too loose, or that it was hanging crookedly. The annoying thing was that she knew why she couldn’t complete this simple task – her mind just wasn’t focusing on it enough. Instead, her imagination kept drifting away to something completely different – to her housemate, and potential lover, Vinyl Scratch.
Octavia gave up on the bowtie, and instead allowed her mind to continue to think about Vinyl, as she had found herself doing more and more often the past few weeks. It was strange how their feelings for each other had come out of nowhere.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true – thinking back over the time she and Vinyl had spent together since they first met one another, Octavia could in retrospect see some fairly obvious signs. There was the time that they had gone out drinking and she had invited Vinyl into her bed for cuddling, there was the time in which the two supposedly straight mares had resorted to kissing each other to hide from some pirates, and there was the time, just a few weeks ago, when Octavia had won a swordfight in order to save Vinyl Scratch from the leader of a ninja clan. I think I just like the idea of our feelings for one another coming from nowhere because it feels strange to think that we’ve had feelings for one another all of this time, Octavia mused.
Octavia’s thoughts were interrupted a moment later by a knock on her bedroom door. “Yo, Octavia! You ready for the date yet?” a cheerful voice asked. Octavia swallowed. She had completely lost track of the amount of time that had passed.
“J-just a moment, Vinyl!” she replied. “I’m nearly finished!” Octavia spent a few seconds hastily trying to get the stubborn bowtie to sit straight before giving up and ripping it off her neck. She opened her bedroom door to find that the unicorn had already wandered off somewhere. “Where are you, Vinyl?” Octavia called out, looking down the corridor.
“In the kitchen!” Vinyl answered. Octavia quickly trotted in the direction of her voice, finding her exactly where she said she would be.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” Octavia started, “I was –”
“No stress,” interrupted Vinyl cheerfully, “it’s not like I’m in any hurry. You want the date now?”
“Of course I do, Vinyl, I – wait, what do you mean the date?” Octavia asked, frowning. “You’ve got plenty there!” True enough, in front of Vinyl were many dates, all chopped up neatly for consumption.
“Hey, when I said I’d make lunch for us, I didn’t say how much I was making for each of us, did I?” Vinyl asked, grinning.
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha, Vinyl. Now are we going to have lunch or not?” Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noticed that the unicorn had a calming effect on her.
“Yeah, of course,” said Vinyl, dividing the dates up onto two separate plates. The two mares took the plates to the table and ate in silence for a few minutes.
“Sooo…” began Octavia slowly in an attempt to start conversation, “how is your…music….going lately?” She struggled to think of something to talk about – she was finding it awkward to be around Vinyl more and more these days. She simply didn’t know how she should act around Vinyl, particularly when the unicorn could switch from her usual laidback attitude to tense and awkward seemingly in a heartbeat.
“Uh, yeah…” Vinyl answered, almost hesitantly. “It’s going…well?”
“Oh,” said Octavia. “That’s good.” Silence fell once more, until Vinyl broke it.
“You got any plans for tonight?” she asked.
“None at all,” Octavia asked, looking to her lunch rather than her housemate.
“Cool. You, uh, want to go on that date we were talking about?”
Octavia’s head shot up. Well, that certainly came out of nowhere, she thought. “Um, sure,” she replied. Her heart had started beating faster upon Vinyl bringing up the topic the duo had been ignoring for weeks. “What did you have in mind?”
Slowly easing up, Vinyl said, “Well, there’s this really sick club that I – hey, what’s with that face?”
“Really, Vinyl?” Octavia asked, an expression of distaste evident on her face. “A club? For a date?”
“Well, the fact that I sometimes DJ there and get a discount may have had something to do with it,” Vinyl said, a grin slowly spreading on her face. “But honestly, why not? It’s got booze, good music – hay, we can even dance together if you want!”
“I was hoping for something a little more… romantic,” Octavia said, hoping that Vinyl hadn’t noticed the slight voice crack she had on the last word. “Such as a nice restaurant, perhaps.”
Vinyl scoffed. “Yeah, that’ll be fun,” she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “We can sit around waiting for overpriced food that doesn’t even taste that good, and then get funny looks from all the snobs when it turns out that we’re eating it wrong. That’s totally romantic.”
“Well it’s damn well better than a club!” Octavia snapped. “We’ll barely be able to hear each other over that deafening drone some call music, we’ll both inevitably be hit on by arrogant stallions, and you’ll end up getting drunk and I’ll have to carry you back home!”
Rather than arguing, Vinyl decided to try whining. “But Octaviaaaa! I really really don’t want to go to some expensive restaurant!”
Octavia sighed and pressed a hoof to her eyes. “And I’d rather not go to a club. I can guarantee that I for one won’t enjoy myself there.” She paused before adding, “I merely wish to have a nice time with you.” Once more, the room went silent.
“Weeellll…” said Vinyl as a thought occurred to her, “we could, y’know, compromise.”
“…How so?” Octavia asked as she wondered what Vinyl could have in mind.
“When we first asked each other out, we originally said we were going to go on two dates, remember?” Vinyl pointed out. “What’s stopping us from doing that?”
Octavia went over the idea in her head, trying to see how Vinyl was inevitably benefitting more from the suggestion. “So, you take me out to the club…” she began.
“…and you can take me on a date to a – urgh, restaurant,” Vinyl finished. She finished the last of her dates, and got up from the table. “You cool with it?”
Octavia shrugged. “I cannot think of anything better,” she said. “When shall we go on these dates?”
“Oh, didn’t you hear me before?” Vinyl asked mischievously as she made her way over to Octavia. “I’m gonna take you out clubbing tonight, and we’re gonna have a damn good time.” Vinyl’s tail brushed Octavia’s legs as she leant into Octavia’s neck. “And you are gonna love it,” she whispered, before giving Octavia a quick kiss on the neck.
As Vinyl walked away from Octavia, the Earth pony noticed two things – firstly, that she was suddenly blushing, and secondly, that going out to a club suddenly didn’t sound that bad.
==============
Of course, by the time Vinyl and Octavia entered the club, Octavia was already questioning how in Equestria she could have had such a thought. The music was loud enough to be deafening, there were so many ponies that the two mares could barely move from the entrance, let alone across the dance floor and to the tables, and they had barely been in there for a minute before somepony who had had a bit too much to drink spilled his drink on Vinyl.
“Oh man!” Vinyl exclaimed, shooting the offending stallion a dirty look. “Can you believe this?”
Octavia shook her head. “I understand that it was an accident,” she shouted over the music, “but ponies who are that drunk should be thrown out.”
“What?” Vinyl asked, confused. The two ponies were slowly forcing their way through the crowd and to a table that was miraculously empty. “Oh, I’m not pissed that he spilled his drink on me. I’ve done that to ponies plenty of times!”
“Oh? Then what are you annoyed about?” Octavia asked, trying to follow. This was her first time in a club and to her, things like Vinyl’s behaviour felt strange and confusing.
“Oh, I was pissed off at the beer he had in that thing,” Vinyl shouted as she sat down at the table. “Who the hay drinks pissweak crap like that?”
“Right, the beer he had…” Octavia chose to nod rather than to question Vinyl’s reasoning. She blankly stared into the crowd, not sure what to do now that she was at the table. Should she be dancing to the music with Vinyl? Octavia’s gaze wandered to Vinyl, hoping to follow the experienced clubber’s lead in what to do. To her slight surprise, she found Vinyl resting her head on her hooves and grinning at her. “Um… is anything the matter, Vinyl?” she asked after a few moments.
“What? Nah, nah, it’s just… I’m so happy!” the unicorn replied. “I mean… I’d be happy enough just because I managed to drag you to a club, but the fact that we’re here on a date is just so much, like cooler, y’know? ‘Cos being with you is just…yeah!”
“Uh, thank you?” Octavia asked, confused.
“Sorry it’s just…I’m so happy to be here with you!” Vinyl exclaimed, grabbing a hoof of Octavia’s that was resting on the table and giving it a small squeeze. Still grinning, she got up from the table, and said, “I’ll go get us drinks, okay?”
Octavia smiled as she watched Vinyl go through the crowd and to the bar. Seeing the unicorn so happy put a small smile on her face. Looking around the club, Octavia thought to herself, It isn’t really that bad here; it is merely too loud and the music is not to my taste. After all, it wasn’t like anything horrible had happened, nor was it going to.
Vinyl came back a few minutes later with the drinks she had promised. “Here, I got you some vodka and orange juice!” she shouted.
Octavia cocked her head, not having heard Vinyl properly. Did… did she just buy me some orange juice? That was thoughtful of her; I would not have expected a place such as this to serve non-alcoholic drinks, she thought. She gave her thanks and accepted the drink as Vinyl passed it to her.
“I don’t recommend drinking it quickly.” Vinyl found herself yelling more and more – the music was louder at this table compared to before. “They put a bit more vodka in there than they- wait, what are you doing? I said don’t drink it quickly!”
Octavia had just finished sculling the contents of the large glass, and gave Vinyl a funny look. “What?!” she shouted.
“I said don’t drink it quickly!” Vinyl repeated. “They put too much vodka in it!”
Octavia looked into the empty glass and squinted. Some of Vinyl’s words were getting through to her, but between her sudden tipsiness and the loud music, she wasn’t getting enough. Did…did she say this had vodka in it? But she said it was just orange juice before! Frowning at Vinyl, Octavia said, “Vinyl, why would you lie to me like that?”
“Uh, what?” Vinyl asked, tilting an ear in Octavia’s direction. “Didn’t quite catch that, sorry.”
“Why would you lie to me, Vinyl?”
“Uh, I never-”
“Yes you did! Is it because I didn’t want to come here?”
“What? No, of course not!” Vinyl facehoofed. “Look, I’ll go get you some water, okay?” She put her glass down on the table. “Stay here, and don’t touch my drink, okay? DON’T do it.” She got up from the table once more and wandered back to the bar.
I – I really need that water, Octavia thought as she watched Vinyl disappear into the crowd. I feel somewhat dizzy… Looking downwards, Octavia’s eyes found Vinyl’s drink – lemonade and tequila – sitting there on the table innocently. Is that water? It looks like it. Octavia stretched out a hoof for it before recalling Vinyl telling her not to touch it. But Vinyl didn’t want me drinking it… unless…maybe it is water, and she doesn’t want me to drink hers? But she can just drink the glass she’s getting now, so I am sure she won’t mind if I drink this.
Octavia successfully got down about half of the glass before realising that it wasn’t water and managing to stop drinking. When Vinyl Scratch returned to the table a minute later with an actual glass of water, she found Octavia resting her head on the table. “Octavia? Are you okay?” Vinyl asked.
“Why…” Octavia mumbled.
“Sorry?” Vinyl asked, confused. What had happened whilst she’d been gone?
“Why didn’t you stop me from drinking it?” Octavia moaned, raising her head slowly to look at Vinyl.
“Stop you from drinking w- oh, buck me!” Vinyl swore as she saw her half-empty glass and put two and two together. “Dammit Octavia, I told you not to drink that!”
“I’m sorry…” Octavia croaked, her head still resting on the table. “Can I please have some water now?”
“Drink it slowly,” Vinyl advised as she levitated the water she’d acquired to Octavia. As the Earth pony slowly took sips of it, Vinyl ran a hoof through her soft mane. Oh, Octavia, thought Vinyl, you really are too pretty.
“Thank you, Vinyl,” Octavia said a few minutes later as she finished the water and raised her head from the table. “I’m feeling a bit better now…although my head still feels very…light.”
“Do you want to go home?” Vinyl asked, concern in her voice.
“No, I – I think I should be okay,” Octavia replied. She closed her eyes for a moment. “I do not think that I am a fan of this music.”
Vinyl grimaced. “Yeah, I’ll be honest with you, this isn’t the best music they’ve ever played,” she said. A small smirk appeared on her face a moment later. “Though at least it’s better than that crap that bucking Neon Lights plays.”
“Who?” Octavia asked, frowning.
“He’s a –”
“Did somepony say my name?” a new voice interrupted. A unicorn with a blue-grey coat and a dark mane approached the table. He was wearing a black shirt with a tie, and had a smug expression on his face.
“Neon,” Vinyl deadpanned.
“Thought I’d recognised that sexy voice from across the dance floor,” Neon said, sliding up to Vinyl, who did not look happy.
“…How? The music is too loud,” Vinyl pointed out.
“Is it? Because I reckon I could pick out that beautiful tone of yours from a mile away,” Neon said, leaning closer to Vinyl.
“S-sorry, who are you?” Octavia asked. Between the stranger’s sudden appearance and her tipsiness she was having a hard time keeping track of things.
“The name’s Neon Lights-” began the unicorn.
“-the sleaziest DJ around,” finished Vinyl, a look of distaste on her face. “Also, he steals a lot of my music.”
Not even attempting to deny it, Neon shrugged, before jumping onto Vinyl’s lap. Vinyl did not look happy about this. “Hey, it’s a dog-eat-dog world, baby.” Leaning closer to Vinyl, he said, “So anyway Vinyl, wanna ditch this friend of yours and head to the dance floor?”
At this, Vinyl actually chuckled a little. “No thanks, we’re cool here.”
“Yeah!” said Octavia. “Vinyl and I are rather happy here so… so buck off!”
“But Vinyl, surely you’d rather hang out with me than- wait a second…” Neon Lights said, putting two and two together, “are you two…together?”
Vinyl reached out for Octavia’s hoof and took it in her own. “And we wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said, grinning.
“Yeah! So stop hitting on Vinyl!” Octavia said, taking a moment to focus properly on Neon.
Somewhat stunned, Neon got off Vinyl and to the floor. “You sure you don’t want to have just one dance with me?” he asked, a bit less confident than before. As Vinyl opened her mouth to answer, Octavia interrupted her.
“Like hay she will!” she said. “She’d be worried that you’d drop her the same way you drop the bass!” Vinyl giggled a little at this.
“Y-yeah?” Neon asked. “Well…” He cast an eye over Octavia, trying to think of a comeback. “Seeing as how you’re an Earth pony, I think you’d be a bit too much of a stick-in-the-mud to entertain her successfully!”
“Really?” said Octavia, getting out of her seat, wobbling slightly. “As a unicorn, I think you lack that something magical that she needs!”
“Oh my Celestia, don’t tell me they’re actually doing this…” laughed Vinyl, grinning as the two ponies continued their verbal battle.
“You know what your problem is? You’re too high-class for her,” Neon said, taking note of Octavia’s bow tie. “Maybe you should leave her to me – I can go down low for her,” he said, grinning smugly.
“Or maybe I should do that – I’m sure I could get her to hit a few high notes,” Octavia retorted. By now a few other ponies were paying attention to the verbal sparring of the two ponies. Neon Lights eyed Octavia’s cutie mark.
“I don’t think Vinyl should hang out with you – it’ll only lead to treble.”
“Why would it? Unlike you, I don’t plan to harmony one,” Octavia said, choosing to simply make a musical pun in her haste to reply to Neon Lights.
“I don’t mean to de-bass your comment, but you’re not really in tune with what’s going on, are you?”
“Are you yourself? Because it sounds almost as if you’re calling me a lyre.”
“No need to harp on about it,” Neon snorted.
“Don’t use that tone with me,” Octavia countered. “Your puns are continually falling flat.”
“Oh, well didn’t you get my note?” Neon asked, a smirk upon his face. “There have been some major setbacks with your own punning.” Confusion fell amongst the crowd as the ponies who had been paying attention to the verbal duel wondered what he meant. “Uh, guys? Note? Major?” Neon pointed out. The ponies’ whispering only increased. “Oh, buck you all.”
“Well Neon, it looks like I win our little duel,” said Octavia smugly. As she spoke, Vinyl came up to her and wrapped a hoof around her shoulder. “Looks like Vinyl will be staying with me – not that I needed your permission, of course.”
“Yeah well, you… you…” Neon struggled for a few moments to find a comeback. “You- fight like a cow!”
“How appropriate. You fight like a dairy farmer,” said Octavia. Vinyl had been struggling to hold in her amusement for a while now, but at this, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Oh man, Neon, you really are such an idiot!” she got out in-between laughs. She was holding onto Octavia for support. In turn, Octavia was smiling happily, but staring off into the distance. Considering how tipsy she was she was rather pleased with her retorts and comebacks to Neon.
Unfortunately, Vinyl’s laughter seemed to be the final straw for Neon Lights. Before Octavia knew what he was doing, he had moved in closer to Vinyl, and started kissing her. Somewhere in the back of Octavia’s mind she noticed that Vinyl didn’t seem to be resisting much, before she pulled him off the unicorn and punched him in the face.
“Get the – the hell out of the club, Neon,” Octavia said as he touched the spot on his face where she had hit him. He grimaced.
“Buck you, you-” He was silenced as Octavia hit him again, knocking him to the ground. There was a gasp amongst the crowd.
“Don’t you try anything,” Octavia slurred, trying to stand on her hind legs but misbalancing and falling back to all fours. “I’ve – I’ve fought ninjas, you know!”
“You’ve what? What the hell does that even mean?” asked Neon angrily as he picked himself up. “For buck’s sake, no need to get possessive, you crazy mare.” His expression became a lot more smug as he added, “Just doin’ what comes naturally, you know? Keeping Vinyl away from fillyfoolers like you.”
The next few moments were a bit hazy for Octavia. All she remembered was baring her teeth at Neon before somehow ending up on top of him, punching him in the muzzle repeatedly. After that, she somehow found herself literally being thrown outside by a bouncer, who muttered something under his breath about alcoholics.
A moment later, Vinyl Scratch trotted out of the club. “Hey Octavia!” she said cheerfully, as though she hadn’t seen the pony for weeks. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah,” Octavia mumbled, accepting a hoof from Vinyl in getting up. Between the alcohol and getting thrown out, a wave of tiredness had rushed over her. “I- I’m sorry that I got us thrown out of the club, Vinyl.”
“Seriously? Why?” Vinyl asked, still cheerful. The two mares began to slowly head back to their house.
“Well you…you wanted to take me there and then I just made a mess of things and bucked up… I drank all that stuff, I –I got into that fight with Neon, I got thrown out…”
“Who the buck cares?!” Vinyl shouted a bit too loudly, stopping in the street to wrap both of her forehooves around Octavia and give her a quick squeeze. “That was hilarious!”
“It…was?” Octavia asked, trying to make sense of everything.
“Damn straight! ‘You fight like a dairy farmer’… oh man, Octavia, where do you get all these things from?” Vinyl said, chuckling a little as she spoke.
“So you – you don’t mind that I got us thrown out?” Octavia asked.
“Hell no! And anyway, you were thrown out for beating up that jerk Neon Lights!” Vinyl said, still grinning wildly. “That’s worth getting thrown out for any day!”
“Oh, good,” said Octavia, feeling a little better about herself. “So… do you think tonight was a successful date?”
“Well…” Vinyl said mischievously, slowly directing Octavia to a nearby wall, “I think there’s one more thing I need from this sexy mare before I can call this a great night.”
“Okay?” questioned Octavia, wondering why Vinyl was currently propping her up onto her hind legs and leaning her against the wall. “I think I’m a bit tired… I don’t know whether I can do it, Vinyl…”
“I just want you to do,” began Vinyl, smiling warmly, “whatever the hay you want to.”
For the next few minutes, the only sound that could be heard from the darkened street was that of two lovers kissing each other as tenderly and as caringly as they knew how to.