Octavia Melody’s ears were tingling in the cold. She was not entirely certain what was causing the sensation. It could have been the feeling of wearing earrings again after so long, or it could have been the chilly air, or perhaps even the strange magic in the earrings. Or maybe it was all of those things at once.
The cellist reached up and touched her right ear with her hoof. Nope, it was the cold, because her ear instantly calmed down when the warmth of her hoof drew near.
“Do you like them? Tell me you like them.”
Octavia looked at the pony who had given her the earrings. Vinly was struggling to contain her excitement as the two of them walked down the nearly deserted street. Hearth’s Warming Eve was upon them, and most ponies were either hurrying home or off to whatever social gathering they planned to make an appearance at.
“Yes, Vinyl. They are lovely,” Octavia said with a soft smile.
“They’re blue now!” Vinyl said. A stupid grin was spread across her face and Octavia could not help but smile. The sheer look of joy in her marefriend’s eyes was enough to banish the cold from her ears.
“Naturally,” she replied and she flicked her head to the side and closed her eyes, allowing Vinyl to stare at the jewelry for a moment. “Where are we heading again?”
“The place where I bought them,” the Unicorn said, still keeping her red eyes glued to Octavia’s face.
“Why?” Octavia asked, slightly perplexed. “They do not have any flaws, and they fit perfectly.”
“Oh, no, we’re not going there to return them or anything,” Vinyl said with a wave of her hoof. “Come on, Tavi, I’m not that dense.”
Octavia tried not to blush at the sound of her pet name. “Then why are we going there?”
It was not that Octavia disliked strolling through the city in the late evening, bundled up with her love and listening to the freshly fallen snow crunch under her hooves. She and Vinyl could wander the streets deep into the night for all she cared, but she had made a promise to her mother and father that they would be back in time for dinner.
And with her mother finally warming up to Vinyl, Octavia did not want to risk an incident.
“We’re going to meet somepony,” Vinyl said with a smile, but then she tilted her head to the side. “Er, well, you’re going to meet somepony. She asked me to bring you by the shop when it closed.”
“Oh, very well,” Octavia said with a bit of confusion. She had several admirers in Canterlot. Perhaps this meeting was with one of them. Perhaps they wanted a special autograph for Hearth’s Warming Eve.
“Glad to hear it.” Vinyl’s face was beaming. “She seemed really eager to meet you.”
Octavia smiled. Of course Vinyl would promise something without checking with Octavia first. It was part of her charm. “What is her name?”
“Huh?”
Octavia’s amethyst eyes closed half way. “Her name, Vinyl. That thing that every pony has in order to make themselves unique and recognizable to other ponies?”
“That could easily be a cutie mark,” Vinyl protested, now looking away from Octavia and laughing nervously. “Which, by the way, was of two dolphins.”
“Her name, Vinyl.”
“Eh…”
Octavia sighed. Of course Vinyl did not ask for the pony’s name. “Why do I love you again?”
Vinyl trotted ahead and swished her tail in Octavia’s face. “Because I have a cute butt and—whoa, hey there!”
Octavia bit down on Vinyl’s tail and pull, not too gently, until Vinyl was being dragged back through the snow. The cellist then reached out and slapped the D.J.’s flank, then let go of her tail and continued walking as though nothing had happened. When she looked back, Vinyl was down in the snow, looking up at her with excited eyes.
“Are you coming?” Octavia asked.
“Yeah,” Vinyl said. “Just…uh, trying to cool off.”
“Get up this instant or you will catch a cold,” Octavia said as she walked back to the Unicorn. She held her hoof out and helped Vinyl back to her hooves. “I will not have my marefriend getting sick on Hearth’s Warming Eve because she could not control her more sensual side.”
“Hey! You’re the one that spanked me!” Vinyl protested.
“I was simply reminding you of what is mine,” Octavia replied with a small grin, but that was all her face gave away. The sight of Vinyl licking her lips and trying to focus on walking was well worth it.
The two ponies walked in silence for a little longer, occasionally passing another pony in the city, but otherwise they were alone. Octavia used the opportunity to snuggle into Vinyl’s scarf. She closed her eyes as she inhaled the mare’s comforting scent and allowed Vinyl to guide her the rest of the way.
“We’re here,” Vinyl whispered all too soon.
“Great,” Octavia said as she opened her eyes and pulled away from Vinyl. She found that they were standing in front of one of the most popular jewelry stores in Canterlot. “Vinyl…how did you afford…?”
“I know ponies,” Vinyl said with a smirk, which instantly disappeared when Octavia glared at her. “Okay, so the shopkeeper maaaay have given me a bargain. She said, uh…I was suppose to use—”
“She was suppose to use the other bits to take you on a nice date.” Octavia turned to the jewelry store at the sound of the new voice. A Unicorn was coming out the front door. She turned and locked the shop up, then trotted over to the two musicians in the snow. “You better have kept your promise, Vinyl, or I’m charging you full price.”
“I will!” Vinyl said. “It’s just…everything is kind of booked tonight, so…”
The lavender Unicorn smiled. “Fair enough. Miss Melody, thank you so much for coming! I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Think nothing of it, Miss…?” Octavia offered her hoof as she waited for the mare’s name.
“Sea Swirl,” the Unicorn replied with a friendly shake. “Just Sea Swirl.”
“Then you may call me Octavia,” Octavia replied with a soft smile. “Vinyl said you wanted to speak with me about something?”
“Oh yes!” Sea Swirl levitated a rather long case out of her saddlebag. Octavia instantly recognized it as a bow case. So Sea Swirl most likely wanted her to sign it as a present or something. While it was a little…unorthodox to ask for an autograph in this way, she did not mind. Sea Swirl seemed like a nice enough pony.
Sea Swirl popped the case open and sure enough, a bow was resting inside it. The wooden frame looked worn in many places, but the strings gleamed in the moonlight.
“It is lovely,” Octavia said. “Would you like me to sign the case, or the bow itself?”
Sea Swirl blinked several times. “Um…what?”
Now it was Octavia’s turn to blink. “I apologize. I…assumed you wanted me to sign it?”
Sea Swirl looked at Octavia, looked down at the bow, up at Vinyl, and then started laughing. “What? No. No, that’s okay. I just wanted your opinion on it.”
Octavia’s cheeks flushed. How arrogant of her to assume that just because some pony showed her something, that meant that the pony wanted her to sign it. “Oh, I am so sorry. I did not mean to presume.”
“It’s fine,” Sea Swirl replied with a shrug. “Actually, I think she’s kind of a fan of yours. Signing it might not be such a bad idea…” Sea Swirl tilted her head to the side and stared up at the stars for a moment. “But first, the matter at hoof! Does it look right?”
“What’s that suppose to mean?” Vinyl asked. Octavia shoved her for being rude.
“I, uh…kind of borrowed it from my…friend.”
“Right,” Vinyl said with a slow nod and a grin. “Friend. Is she—ow!”
Sea Swirl blushed, but continued. “No, she’s just a friend. I think. I don’t know.” The Unicorn shook her head. “Anyway, like I was saying, I borrowed it without asking her. The strings were frayed and snapped. I’ve seen her looking at it a few times. I offered to buy her a new one, or even have this one fixed, but she wouldn’t hear it. So I, um…”
“You decided to fix it for her for Hearth’s Warming Eve,” Octavia said with a nod. “That way, she cannot get mad at you.”
“Pssh,” Sea Swirl waved her hoof, “Symphony will still get mad at me. She’s really—”
“Symphony?” Octavia asked. That was a name she had not heard in a while. In fact, the last time she had heard that name was when the musician had caused a rather…frightful scene in Canterlot. She had also said some unkind things to Octavia herself.
“Yeah,” Sea Swirl said. “Do you know her?”
“I…have crossed her path before,” Octavia said carefully. She and Symphony had played together once, and while the pony was talented, she was not what Octavia would call nice.
But then, Sea Swirl seemed to like her, and Sea Swirl seemed nice. Perhaps Symphony had changed since they had last spoke.
Sea Swirl shook her head. “We keep getting off track. Like I was saying, I had the strings replaced on her bow. I wanted to make sure the craftspony did it right. I don’t know the first thing about music, so I wouldn’t know. Could you look it over?”
Octavia debated for a moment, but she shoved the doubt aside. Symphony had seemed to be under a lot of stress when they had last met, and it was not fair to judge her entire character on that one encounter. “Of course. Do you mind if I hold it?”
Sea Swirl nodded and Octavia carefully lifted the bow out of the box. The weight felt right, and she could feel the smoothness in the wood from where Symphony rested her hoof. It felt familiar and alien at the same time. She briefly wondered if Fiddlesticks’ bow felt like Symphony’s, but she did not dwell on the thought.
Instead, the cellist held the bow up to the moonlight. She glanced at the strings. There was something special about them. It took her a moment to figure out what, but she realized it.
Of course, she thought with a warm smile. That is why she is worried.
“It is perfect, Sea Swirl,” Octavia said as she lowered the bow back into the case. “And if Symphony does not appreciate all that you did, then she is lesser for it.”
Sea Swirl blushed. “Um, right. Thank you.”
The three ponies stood in the snow for a long moment. Sea Swirl kept looking between the case and the ground, doing her best to avoid Octavia’s warm smile. Vinyl kept looking at both of them in confusion. She knew she had missed something, and Octavia could not help but giggle at her for it.
“Well, I think I’d better get going,” Sea Swirl said after a while as she kicked at the snow. “Symphony is suppose to be at my place in a few minutes, so, uh…”
“Do you have a piece of paper I could write on?” Octavia asked.
“Sure.” Sea Swirl rummaged through her saddlebag for a moment and then pulled out a small piece of paper. “Here you go.”
“Quill?” Octavia asked as she turned and pressed the piece of paper against Vinyl’s side. The Unicorn jumped a little in surprise, but she did not protest.
“Yep,” Sea Swirl said as she levitated a quill over to Octavia. The Earth pony took the quill in her mouth and wrote a quick note on the paper. She then folded it and gave it to Sea Swirl.
“Put that in the case,” Octavia said sternly. “It is for Symphony only.”
“Got it!” Sea Swirl said as she put the note inside the bow case. She then closed it and put it back in her saddlebag. “Well, thanks again, Octavia. Hope you two have a great Hearth’s Warming Eve and day tomorrow.”
“You as well, Sea Swirl,” Octavia said with a nod.
“Thanks again for the deal!” Vinyl added. “She looks great in them, right?”
“She sure does,” Sea Swirl said with a wink. With that, the Unicorn turned and dashed down the street and out of sight.
“Shall we head back?” Octavia asked as she turned to leave.
“Sure,” Vinyl said as she followed. “So…what was the deal with the bow?”
Octavia smiled to herself. “Sea Swirl had it specially made. I am not sure if Symphony will be able to tell, but it is something that is very important to musicians like her and myself.”
“Oh,” Vinyl said in a quiet voice.
“What is bothering you?” Octavia asked. She stopped and turned to the white Unicorn to see that her ears were lowered.
“Well, um…I kind of want to know what Sea Swirl did. You know, so I can do it too.” Octavia felt tears come to her eyes. She laughed and shook her head. “What? I’m serious.”
“You already did, silly.”
“What was it?” Octavia flicked her tail so that it slapped against Vinyl’s and the Unicorn’s eyes went wide with understanding. “Oooooh. Got it.”
“Come on,” Octavia said as she nuzzled against Vinyl’s scarf again. “Let us head home. I am certain mother has prepared a lovely dinner for us.”
“Sounds good,” Vinyl said. “I’m starving.”